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.
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Maybe we can send those in academia and the press with sympathies for Cuban communism on an extended vacation to cuba to experience utopia.
Work day is limited.
Cuba plunges into darkness as electric grid collapses
https://nypost.com/2026/08/03/world-news/cuba-plunges-into-darkness-as-electric-grid-collapses/
“Maybe we can send those in academia and the press with sympathies for Cuban communism on an extended vacation to cuba to experience utopia.”
Don’t forget all the Democrat/communist politicians.
I’m sure they will find a way to blame the US for this...
Are you joking?
We are 6 months into an active energy blockade of Cuba.
They can’t keep the lights on but at the same time are an espionage superpower? How does that work?
Are we setting the stage for an invasion? I don’t think so. Poking them in the eye is what it looks like.
>Cuba Has Built an ‘Espionage Superpower’ Inside US Institutions
As have: China, India, any # of M.E. entities, {pick your anti-U.S. country of choice}+
Worst off, it’s *ALL* thanks to the aid/comfort of Fedzilla. Lay the blame at your own feet, Rubio (nearly 2yrs into this 2nd term admin & NOW this comes up?? *PFFffft*)
These spies should have been sentenced to hang. The fact that they weren't suggests that those involved in the sentencing may also have connections and loyalty to Havana and the Communists.
Maybe Cuba had (past tense) an espionage superpower in the US when it was being funded by the Soviet Union. That should give us pause and is sobering because other countries could be doing it today (China). But at this point, Cuba is reverting to a pre-industrial society that can’t feed itself or keep the lights on. Its on the verge of collapse. If there are any vestiges of an espionage network in the US, they are looking out for themselves and probably hooking up with narcotics traffickers to make money, not promote Cuba’s interests.
Wasn’t joking...just wasn’t aware of a blockade, I guess!
Thanks!
What’s your point? Blockade and espionage are not mutually exclusive.
Venezuela used to provide them with diesel/#2 oil/gasoline for a highly reduced price.
The Cuban government sells fuel at their government stations for less than their cost.
I think this an excellent idea, can’t happen soon enough.
You mean we’ve stopped VZ from giving free oil to Cuba?
That’s not a blockade.
Pikers compared to the chicoms. But hey, let's bring in 600,000 more of those.
If you execute a spy you can never question them again. You lose they opportunity to find out what they “targeted” and what was taken. What you catch them doing is usually the “prima facie” target. You lose the opportunity to find out if they’re part of a network. They usually are! If they’re dead you lose the opportunity to turn them against their masters. Also dead spies have little trade value when want to recover your own.
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.
“They can’t keep the lights on but at the same time are an espionage superpower? How does that work?”
Per the article they are ‘funded’.
I will leave it up to you to guess which countries are funding them.
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