Posted on 08/03/2026 5:46:03 AM PDT by MtnClimber
Secretary of State Marco Rubio warned Saturday that communist Cuba has spent decades burrowing agents into the highest levels of the U.S. government, calling the island nation an unmatched threat to American security despite its tiny size and crumbling economy.
“A failed state 90 miles from our shores that happens to be aligned with adversaries to the United States is a national security threat to our country,” Rubio told “My View with Lara Trump” on Fox News.
Rubio’s remarks came days after the State Department released a 100-page report accusing Havana of running influence operations across American universities, activist groups and protest movements, including ties to Antifa. The report described Cuba as the capital of 21st-century communism.
“They actually are an influence and espionage superpower,” Rubio said. “If you look at the history of espionage in the United States, Cuba is the only country that consistently has implanted and embedded spies in our system without even paying them.”
Rubio pointed to Manuel Rocha, a former U.S. ambassador and national security official who pleaded guilty to acting as a secret Cuban agent for decades and was sentenced to 15 years in prison. He also cited Ana Belen Montes, a former Defense Intelligence Agency analyst convicted of feeding American secrets to Havana, calling her penetration one of the worst intelligence failures in U.S. history. “We’ve had them penetrate the highest levels of Defense Intelligence Agency,” Rubio said.
The secretary went further, tying recent pro-Hamas, anti-ICE and pro-Maduro demonstrations to a common Cuban-backed protest apparatus designed to pressure lawmakers in Washington.
“There’s nothing organic about it. It is funded, it is organized and Cuba is a part of that network and in some cases a critical part of the network,” Rubio said. “And it’s a network they will weaponize against us. And they talk about it openly, about how they will use that network to pressure American policymakers.”
Rubio also blamed Cuba for decades of leftist unrest across Latin America, saying nearly every communist insurgency that has destabilized governments in the region traces back to Havana. “Every single one of them over the last 40, 50 years has found its support, its help, in many cases, its birth, from a Cuban influence operation,” he said.
Some critics have dismissed the State Department report as an attempt to manufacture a pretext for U.S. military action against Cuba. Rubio did not address that criticism directly Saturday, but he took aim at American academics and journalists who he said continue to defend the Diaz-Canel regime.
“I know there are plenty of people in American academia and, frankly, in American press that sympathize with the Cuban regime and have for a very long time,” Rubio said. “Part of it is motivated by their anti-Americanism and part of it motivated by ideological affinity.”
“But it doesn’t mean we can ignore this threat,” he warned.
I want Cuba to be free and independent!
We’ll see about Alberta!
The convicted female spy Montez has completed her finite sentence.
LA Mayor Karen Bass.
I remember during my days listening to shortwave radio, I would occasionally come across a “Numbers Station”, where a female was reading off numbers in Spanish, I assumed it had to be a spy operation based out of Cuba.
“I was replying to another poster who was implying that it would be foolish to say the U.S. had anything to do with the current energy shortage when in actuality we are intentionally and openly causing it.”
https://freerepublic.com/focus/chat/4390405/posts?page=23#23
https://freerepublic.com/focus/chat/4390405/posts?page=19#19
https://freerepublic.com/focus/chat/4390405/posts?page=6#6
Then the next logical step from our government is to wage war against the Cuban government.
And I said that is a good thing.
In your interaction with me, you said - that I said it was a bad thing.
Here is the actual quote...
"You seem to think there is something wrong about that."
Just like my interaction with the other poster, I am pointing out your error. Unlike you, another poster who didn't understand my reply, replied with a "Thanks" when I clarified....
https://freerepublic.com/focus/chat/4390405/posts?page=28#28
Here is what the person I originally replied to had to say after I pointed out his error regarding our responsibility for the energy shortage in Cuba....
"Wasn’t joking...just wasn’t aware of a blockade, I guess! Thanks!"
You could maybe learn a thing or two from these FReepers.
My statement meant there is nothing wrong with stopping the flow of fuel to Cuba, therefore it is a good thing.
"You seem to think there is something wrong about that." There is not.
I initially said this in post #5 because another poster implied that the energy shortage would be incorrectly blamed on the U.S...
Are you joking?
We are 6 months into an active energy blockade of Cuba.
Several posters asked me to clarify what I meant and I said several times that I was only informing the other poster that he was incorrect and that we WERE actually the cause of the energy shortage.
At no time did I ever say it was bad or anything else that placed a moral judgement on our causing the energy crisis.
At that point YOU accused me of saying that there was something wrong with what we did. You said in post #36....
"You seem to think there is something wrong about that."
What you said in that post was incorrect. I never "seemed to think" that. If that was the impression you got, you were wrong.
I pointed this fact out to you 3 times now. When I pointed it out to other more intelligent FReepers, they immediately understood and apologized for mischaracterizing my posts.
Up to this point you have been too stupid to understand your mistake despite having it explained to you several times.
If you still don't understand what happened here, I am sorry that I was unable to adequately explain it to you.
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