U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said on Wednesday that Washington would like to see a change of government in Cuba, during a hearing before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, as debate in Washington over U.S. policy toward the island intensifies.
During the session, Democratic Senator Brian Schatz of Hawaii asked Rubio to publicly commit that the United States would not participate in a regime change operation in Cuba. In response, Rubio drew a distinction between direct intervention and political change, stating, “Regime change? Oh, no. I think we would like to see the regime there change.”
Rubio’s remarks came amid recent comments by President Donald Trump, who has publicly hinted at the possibility of pressuring Havana following a U.S. operation that led to the capture and removal from power of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro. The developments have renewed concerns about Washington’s approach to governments it considers authoritarian in the region.
However, Rubio emphasized that the United States would not necessarily be directly involved in any potential change of government in Cuba. He suggested that such a shift could occur through internal or regional dynamics, without direct U.S. intervention, unlike the Venezuelan case.
