Rubio defends hard line on Cuba, cites terrorism and China ties

Marco Rubio used a Senate hearing to frame Cuba as more than a battered economy, casting the island as a security problem for Washington and a target for sharper pressure ahead. Speaking before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee during its June 2 review of the FY27 State Department budget request, Rubio defended the Trump administration’s hard line and signaled that Cuba policy is moving deeper into sanctions, intelligence, and regional-security territory.

Rubio accused the Cuban government of sponsoring terrorism and backing violent leftist groups in Latin America, including the ELN and dissident factions of the FARC. He also said Cuba continued to host intelligence facilities used by China and Russia, tying the island to broader U.S. concerns about foreign influence in the Western Hemisphere. Those claims put Cuba squarely inside the administration’s wider debate over Venezuela, Iran, and regional security, not just migration or humanitarian policy.

The hearing also sharpened the focus on GAESA, the Cuban military business conglomerate that the State Department targeted with new sanctions on May 7. Washington described GAESA as a military-controlled umbrella enterprise that controls an estimated 40 percent or more of Cuba’s economy. Rubio went further, arguing that GAESA dominates tourism, mining, gas stations, and other assets and saying it generates around 70 percent of Cuba’s GDP and holds between $14 billion and $17 billion in assets. Those figures were Rubio’s claims, but they underscored the administration’s message that pressure should hit the institutions it believes keep the system afloat.

That approach suggests more designations could follow. U.S. officials have already said additional Cuba-related sanctions are possible in the days and weeks after the May 7 announcement, and Rubio said Washington had spoken directly with Cuban officials about what would be required for the island to recover economically. The combination of direct talks and escalating penalties points to a policy that is not easing up, even if it leaves some channel open for negotiation.

The stakes are rising against a brutal backdrop in Cuba itself. Recent coverage has described severe energy shortages, frequent blackouts, and shortages of food and medicine. One report said 96,000 surgeries had been delayed, including 11,000 pediatric procedures, a sign of how deeply the crisis has spread beyond politics and into daily life.

Rubio’s testimony made the direction clear. Cuba is being treated less as a stalled bilateral file and more as an active security front, with GAESA, China, Russia, and sanctions now at the center of Washington’s next move.