A message of hope for the people of Cuba

Daily News Article — Posted on May 20, 2026

U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio, who is also Cuban-American, addressed the Cuban people directly before the U.S. indictment of Raul Castro:

On a day like today, in 1902, the Cuban flag flew for the first time over an independent country. But I know that today, you, who call the island your home, are going through unimaginable hardships. Today I want to share with you the truth about the reason for your suffering. And I want to tell you what we, in the U.S., are offering to help you not only alleviate the current crisis, but also to build a better future.

The reason you are forced to survive 22 hours a day without electricity is not due to an oil “blockade” by the U.S. As you know, better than anyone, you have been suffering from blackouts for years.

The real reason you don’t have electricity, fuel, or food is because those who control your country have plundered billions of dollars, but nothing has been used to help the people.

Thirty years ago, Raúl Castro founded a company called GAESA. This company is owned and operated by the Armed Forces, and has revenues three times greater than your current government’s budget. Today, while you suffer, these businessmen have $18 billion dollars in assets and control 70% of Cuba’s economy. They profit from hotels, construction, banks, stores and even from the money your relatives send you from the U.S. everything, everything passes through their hands. From those remittances they retain a percentage, but from GAESA’s profits nothing reaches you.

Instead of using the money to buy oil, like all other countries in the world, they depended on free oil from Hugo Chávez and Maduro to keep the money. But now that the free oil has stopped coming, they buy fuel for their generators and their vehicles while the people are asked to sacrifice.

Instead of using the money to maintain and modernize the damaged power plants, they use the money to build more hotels for foreigners and to send their relatives to live in luxury in Madrid and even here in the United States.

Today, Cuba is not controlled by any “revolution.” Cuba is controlled by GAESA. A “state within the state” that is accountable to no one and hoards the profits from its businesses for the benefit of a small elite. And the only role played by the so-called “government” is to demand that you continue making “sacrifices” and repressing anyone who dares to complain.

President Trump is offering a new relationship between the U.S. and Cuba. But it must be directly with you, the Cuban people, not with GAESA.

First, we are offering $100 million dollars in food and medicine for you, the people. But they must be distributed directly to the Cuban people by the Catholic Church or other trusted charitable groups. Not stolen by GAESA to sell in one of their stores.

But, the Cuban people are not interested in permanent charity. You want the opportunity to live in your own country the way your relatives live in the U.S. or in other countries of the world.

Today, from media to entertainment, from the private sector to politics, and from music to sports, Cubans have reached the top of virtually ALL industries, in all countries, except one… Cuba.

Today in Cuba, only those close to the GAESA elite or who are part of it can have profitable businesses.

But President Trump is offering a new path between the U.S. and a new Cuba.

A new Cuba where you, the ordinary Cuban, and not just GAESA, can own a gas station or a clothing store, or a restaurant.

A new Cuba where you, and not just GAESA, can open a bank or have a construction company.

A new Cuba where you, and not just the Communist Party of Cuba, can own a television station or a newspaper.

A new Cuba where you can complain about a failing system, without fear of going to jail or being forced to leave your island.

And a new Cuba where you have a real opportunity to choose who governs your country and vote to replace them if they are not doing a good job.

This is not impossible. All of this exists in the Bahamas, the Dominican Republic, Jamaica and even just 90 miles away, in Florida. If owning your own business and having the right to vote is possible around Cuba, why is it not possible for you in Cuba?

In the U.S. we are ready to open a new chapter in the relationship between our people and our countries.

And, currently, the only thing standing in the way of a better future are those who control your country.

(from state.gov)

Questions

NOTE TO STUDENTS: Before answering the questions, read the “Background” and watch the videos under “Resources” below.

1. What did Secretary Rubio tell the Cuban people the U.S. is offering to do?

2. What does Rubio say is the real reason the people don't have electricity, fuel, or food?

3. What is GAESA? Who runs it and who profits from it? Be specific.

4. Instead of using the GAESA profits or money relatives send Cubans from the U.S. to buy oil, from what source had the regime been obtaining oil?

5. What else did the regime do, and choose not to do, with GAESA profits?

6. What type of relationship is President Trump offering the Cuban people? Be specific.

7. What is the only country where Cubans have not achieved success?

8. What is standing in the way of Cubans having the same opportunities and freedom experienced in the countries around them, including the U.S.?

9. Consider the "Background" summary and also the links to previous articles. What is your reaction to Secretary Rubio's message to the Cuban people?

10. What do you think of what Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier said about communism and the Castro communist dictators when announcing Raul Castro's indictment for the 1996 murder of the four unarmed American civilians (when he ordered their small planes to be shot down in international waters)?

Background

Read previous articles on Cuba:

The devastating on-going effects of the Castros' Communist Dictatorship (since 1959) on the Cuban people:

The Castro dictatorship devastated the lives of generations of Cubans through systemic state violence, complete economic ruin, and the total destruction of individual liberty.

The regime systematically crushed all personal and civil freedoms to maintain total control over the population. Cubans had a total loss of human rights:

Mass Executions: Immediately following the 1959 revolution, Che Guevara and the Castros oversaw the firing-squad executions of thousands of political dissidents, former officials, and suspected opponents.
Political Prisoners: Tens of thousands of citizens who spoke out against the government were sentenced to decades in brutal, overcrowded prisons.
Labor Camps: In the 1960s, the regime established the UMAP (Military Units to Aid Production) forced-labor camps, where religious citizens, artists, and LGBTQ+ individuals were imprisoned and subjected to forced agricultural labor to "correct" their behavior.
Strict Surveillance: The regime created the Committees for the Defense of the Revolution (CDRs)—a neighborhood spy network that turned citizens against each other and destroyed trust within communities.

Economic Ruin and Forced Poverty - The regime’s forced transition to a state-run, communist economic model destroyed the country's productivity and led to widespread, generational deprivation.

Eradication of Private Property: The government seized all private businesses, farms, and homes without fair compensation, stripping citizens of their lifework and wealth.
Chronic Shortages: The state-controlled rationing system left families without adequate food, clean water, medicines, or basic hygiene products.
Decaying Infrastructure: Decades of mismanagement left the country with a collapsing electrical grid, crumbling historic buildings, and a lack of reliable transportation.

Fractured Families and Mass Flight - The oppressive environment forced millions of Cubans to abandon their homeland, permanently fracturing families across generations.

Perilous Escapes: Desperate to escape, hundreds of thousands risked drowning or shark attacks in the Florida Straits on flimsy, homemade rafts (balseros).
Forced Exile: Those who managed to leave were branded "worms" (gusanos) by the state, had all remaining property seized, and were legally banned from returning to their own country for decades.

(From Google AI Overview, May 20, 2026 from the prompt: Effect of the Castros' Communist Dictatorship on the people)