Posted on 02/18/2026 8:37:03 PM PST by SeekAndFind
On Monday night, while talking to reporters aboard Air Force One, someone asked President Donald Trump about Cuba.
"They'll make a deal," he said. "Cuba is right now a failed nation, and they don't even have jet fuel for airplanes to take off. They're clogging up their runway. We're talking to Cuba right now."
But what he said next caught my attention: "I have Marco Rubio talking to Cuba right now."
.@POTUS: "Cuba is, right now, a failed nation... We're talking to Cuba right now. I have @SecRubio talking to Cuba right now, and they should absolutely make a deal because it's really a humanitarian threat. We have great Cuban Americans, and they're going to be very… pic.twitter.com/5Fslli5ukx— Rapid Response 47 (@RapidResponse47) February 17, 2026
I've heard rumors recently that the administration was in contact with someone associated with the regime — someone who could listen to reason — and some said it was Raúl Castro's 41-year-old grandson, Raúl Guillermo Rodríguez Castro, who goes by Raúlito or El Cangrejo ("The Crab") due to a deformed finger.
Well, if Marc Caputo's Axios report that dropped early Wednesday morning is to be believed, that's true. Keep in mind that the following comes from "anonymous sources" and hasn't been confirmed by the White House or the State Department, but Caputo cites three sources close to the situation, and the Miami Herald also claimed that it confirmed the info via a "source with knowledge of the matter who asked for anonymity to discuss the sensitive issue."
According to the reports, Rubio sees the younger Castro as "representing younger, business-minded Cubans for whom revolutionary communism has failed — and who see value in rapprochement with the U.S."
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Axios also reports that Rubio hasn’t spoken with high-level officials, like current “president,” Miguel Díaz-Canel, and Cuba’s foreign minister, Bruno Rodríguez, who is currently in Russia. Based on how those two feel about Rubio, I am not surprised. But, in short, it sounds like the Trump administration is testing the waters to find someone within — a Cuban Delcy Rodriguez, Nicolás Maduro’s former “vice president,” who is is now the “acting president,” aka Trump and Rubio’s Venezuelan pawn — someone they can work with in a similar manner to get the country turned around after nearly 70 years of communist rule.
The Miami Herald reports that the younger Castro was “head of personal security when his grandfather Raúl Castro was president and is still his bodyguard and right hand, appearing always close to the ailing Cuban ruler in public.” Axios calls him the apple of his grandfather’s eye.
Apparently, he lives a lavish lifestyle, often going to Miami in a yacht and staying at luxury hotels. But, according to Axios, he and Rubio don’t talk about the past — their conversations are “future-forward.” One of its sources notes “their common Cuban heritage and accents that are the lingua franca of Miami and surrounding cities.”
“Raulito could be straight out of Hialeah,” the person said. “This could be a conversation between regular guys on the streets of Miami.”
Trade Cuba for Puerto Rico?
No deal.
PR is very conservative—Big Bad Bunny Rabbit to the contrary.
Many genuine PRs were highly offended by his sexualized “show”.
Very conservative, with half the island on welfare. Who cares.
If Puerto Rico is so conservative, why do we hear so often on Free Republic, that we should be against statehood for Puerto Rico?
The talk is always that statehood would mean two Democrat senators automatically, and a number of Democrat representatives in the House.
Otherwise, we're not talking.
Rubio / Cruz for P and VP of Cuba
I can see the grandchild selling out for a villa in Switzerland, or something along that lines.
That talk is Bravo Sierra.
What is sometimes proposed is simultaneous statehood for DC and PR.
That would maintain the status quo. DC would provide deep blue Dems and PR would provide solid red Republicans.
All of which means-—we really NEED Greenland!
That and the fact that PR’s economy is a train wreck and would be a net drain.
CC
Puerto Rican culture is oriented to welfare values a lot more than to values like self sufficiency, merit and accountability.
47% of Puerto Rican households are on welfare . That is certainly NOT a conservative value.
Cue meme of Rubio in Fidel Castro outfit. :)
Doesn’t FR know how BIG Cuba is?
It stretches from Chicago to beyond New York.
Especially, also, as it has BEACHES...!
:)
Doesn’t FR know how BIG Cuba is?
It stretches from Chicago to beyond New York.
Especially, also, as it has BEACHES...!
*******
Good Lord, I had no idea Cuba was so large. Anyway, all I really know of Cuba is from when I was six and Cuba was going to bomb us and we were practicing at Catholic school hiding under our desks. Eye roll.
Interesting.
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