‘If I lived in Havana…’: Rubio’s remark fuels speculation if Cuba will be US's next move after Venezuela

Washington’s dramatic overnight operation in Venezuela, which resulted in the capture of President Nicolás Maduro and his wife, is reverberating far beyond Caracas — with Cuba now sensing it could be next in the Trump administration’s campaign to reassert American dominance in the Western Hemisphere.  

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, a longtime hardliner on both Havana and Caracas, offered a thinly veiled warning suggesting Cuban officials should be uneasy in the wake of the Venezuela operation.  

“If I lived in Havana and I was in the government, I’d be concerned at least a little bit,” Rubio said, hinting that the precedent set in Venezuela could extend elsewhere in the region.  

Rubio’s remarks have heightened anxiety in Cuba, where the leadership views Washington’s actions as part of a broader strategy to reshape Latin America through coercive power. The United States has a long history of military and covert interventions in the region, most notably its tacit backing of the failed 1961 Bay of Pigs invasion by Cuban exiles aimed at overthrowing Fidel Castro.  

President Donald Trump at the press conference said Cuba is “an interesting case”. 

“Cuba, as you know, is not doing very well right now. That system has not been a very good one for Cuba. The people there have suffered for many, many years and I think Cuba is going to be something we’’ll end up talking about, because Cuba is a failing nation right now, very badly failing, and we want to help the people,” he said before handing over the podium to Rubio. 

Cuban President Miguel Díaz-Canel responded sharply, condemning the US operation in Venezuela as criminal and destabilizing. Speaking before thousands of supporters at a mass rally in Havana, Díaz-Canel rejected Washington’s framing of the raid as a law-enforcement action.  

“Latin America is not the backyard where the United States does as it pleases,” Díaz-Canel declared. “Its attack on Venezuela shatters the stability that has characterised our region for years.”  

The Cuban leader described the early-morning assault on Venezuela as “cowardly, criminal, and treacherous,” and demanded proof of life for Maduro following his reported transfer to U.S. custody. He dismissed US claims that the operation was linked to narcotics trafficking, arguing that no evidence implicating Maduro had been presented.  

Instead, Díaz-Canel accused Washington of pursuing Venezuela’s vast oil reserves and natural resources through what he called an act of “state terrorism,” drawing a controversial comparison to Israel’s military campaign in Gaza.  

The rally took place at Havana’s Anti-Imperialist Tribune — a symbolic venue located directly across from the US Embassy — underscoring the depth of Cuban defiance and the escalating rhetorical confrontation between the two governments.  

As Washington signals a more aggressive posture across the hemisphere, Rubio’s warning has reinforced fears in Havana that the Venezuela operation may mark not an isolated action, but the opening move in a broader regional strategy with Cuba firmly in its sights.