"It is an honor to address a group of brave Cuban dissidents and independent journalists to reaffirm our support for a free, sovereign, and independent Cuba," wrote Marco Rubio in X, with the solemnity of someone who believes he is leading an epic crusade. But the scene, far from heroic, is a tragicomic spectacle: the brand-new Secretary of State of the world's greatest power, dedicating his "valuable time" to video chatting with a handful of "dissidents" who, more than brave, are experts in the art of living off the counterrevolutionary tale.
What a pitiful image! These "brave" individuals are merely a small group of mercenaries who have turned "dissidence" into a business as lucrative as it is sterile. They represent an "opposition" that exists only in the fantasies of Miami politicking and in the checks Rubio guarantees them with as much fervor as necessary. It is a poor attempt to reap the rotten fruits of his combined strategy of persecuting the Cuban people's sources of livelihood, while crudely encouraging political intervention and destabilization of our country.
Far from being a moment of glory, a videoconference with figures such as Martha Perdomo Benítez, Berta Soler Fernández, Angel Moya Acosta, Camila Acosta Rodríguez, Wilber Aguilar Bravo, Laura Pollan, Oscar Elias Biset, and Jenny M. Taboada, "representatives" of a "civil society" that represents no one, revealed the decadence of his strategy. He must have been demanding results from them because he has invested too much in them and squeezed our people without achieving his greatest desire. Undoubtedly, a mere circus staged to fuel the headlines of the anti-Cuban press and justify more funding. And what does it achieve? Nothing more than an empty echo, a mirage of "struggle" that vanishes as soon as the video call screen goes off.
Rubio's message was not for the Cuban people, who have been resisting blockades and pressures for decades, but for his "favorite Cubans," those who have learned to capitalize on the rhetoric of a "free Cuba" while posing for photos at embassy-sponsored events.
However, those people he claims to "support" continue to grapple with the consequences of his policies. Millions in Cuba face a tightening blockade destined to cause further suffocation amid many hardships, and those who have emigrated as a result of these same policies now face threats of deportation and even loss of residency if they have ties to their country of origin.
And as if this grotesque spectacle weren't ridiculous enough, Marco Rubio found himself embroiled in a scandal that sounds like something out of a cheap comedy: While Rubio was screaming about his "free Cuba," someone used AI to imitate his voice and deceive other government officials. What better metaphor for his crusade? A fake voice, fake support, a fake "opposition."
(Taken from Cuba por Siempre)
