Florida Congressmen Mario Díaz-Balart (R) and Carlos Gimenez (R) are urging President Donald Trump to place maximum pressure on Cuba, arguing that the Communist government is weaker than it has ever been.
“I’ve been here 65 years, I don’t think I’ve ever seen the regime as weak as it is right now,” Rep. Gimenez said in an interview with the New York Post. “I think what the administration should be doing is what they’re doing, putting pressure on supposed friends of ours that are helping to maintain the regime.”
Gimenez referred to Mexico and their continued support of Cuba through oil shipments – shipments Gimenez has been very vocal about ending.
“We do not understand President Sheinbaum's eagerness to continue undermining the policy of our country,” Rep. Gimenez previously shared in a post on X.
Since the collapse of Nicolás Maduro’s Venezuelan regime, Cuba has lost a powerful ally that was responsible for maintaining its government and economy. Without Venezuelan support and the U.S. placing pressure on Mexico to also end its support of the island, the Cuban regime is facing a crisis regarding its future.
“What needs to happen is to increase the pressure, and what I mean by that is pressure in every way: economic, diplomatic, in every way possible,” Rep. Díaz-Balart commented. “It’s the only thing that’s ever worked in the history of our planet when you have a dictatorship like this that doesn’t want to give up power. Zero tolerance and total pressure.”
In a rare media appearance, Cuban President Miguel Díaz-Canel acknowledged the current state of Cuba and that the regime wouldn’t be able to guarantee electricity or even “basic activities” amid fuel shortages.
In the same address, Díaz-Canel expressed interest in talking to the Trump administration. However, he stated that discussions over Cuba’s future sovereignty would be strictly off the table and that the island nation was preparing a “defense plan” in response to pressure from Washington.
“We aren’t in a state of war, but we are preparing ourselves in case we have to move to a state of war,” Díaz-Canel said.
President Trump said that Cuba is “a failed nation, and they’re not getting any money from Venezuela, and they’re not getting any money from anyone,” as he moves to impose tariffs on countries that continue to support Cuba.
