We're focused a lot on Iran with all the action going on regarding Operation Epic Fury.
However, another antagonist of the United States was making some noise on Tuesday, and a reporter asked Secretary of State Marco Rubio about it.
Our sister site PJ Media caught the action:
Rubio met with New Zealand Foreign Minister Winston Peters at the State Department, and the two made a brief appearance in front of the press for a photo. The secretary does this every time some other country's foreign minister is in town, but he rarely takes questions.
On this particular occasion, a reporter yelled out, "Mr. Secretary, can you tell me what do you think about Cuba’s president telling Newsweek that they’ll strike back against the U.S. if the U.S. launches operations there?"
Cuba's President Miguel Díaz-Canel said to Newsweek that the country would "defend itself to the hilt 'with the participation of all the people' if the U.S. launched an attack."
'And should we fall in battle, to die for the homeland is to live,' he added, evoking a slogan popularized by Fidel Castro and the Cuban revolutionaries’ guerrilla warfare.
I think we've seen enough of Marco Rubio now to know that he's gold when it comes to handling the media and such questions. He didn't disappoint.
NEW: Secretary of State Marco Rubio dismissed Cuban President Miguel Díaz-Canel’s comments to Newsweek about potentially striking back at the U.S., telling @LeoFeldmanNEWS, “I don’t think much about what he has to say.” pic.twitter.com/TVuFszNAgs
— Newsweek (@Newsweek) April 7, 2026
"Okay, sure," Rubio said, as he tried to stop himself from laughing, but didn't quite make it. "I don’t think much about what he has to say," he responded.
First, I think that the Trump team thinks that Cuba is going to fall on its own because of its collapsing economy and its unhappy people. The people there have come out in the streets just as the folks in Iran have to demand their freedom, despite the oppressive nature of both societies. They've been under the boot longer than Iran, but there are still people dreaming of freedom.
At this point, Cuba would be lucky if it had people willing and able to come out and fight. People just want to be able to eat and have electricity, some simple requests. And this didn't start with the U.S. restricting Venezuela's oil from getting to Cuba — the issues have been going on for some time, as we have reported.
READ MORE: Watch: More Protests in Cuba As People Attack Communist Party Building, Try to Set it on Fire
Progressive Dems Blame Cuba's Suffering on US Oil Embargo, Not Communism
While he was at it in the same remarks, Rubio took down Iran as well for their threats to the world by hitting ships in the Strait of Hormuz.
SECRETARY RUBIO: The whole world has been impacted unfortunately because Iran is violating every law known by striking commercial vessels in the Straits of Hormuz.
— Department of State (@StateDept) April 7, 2026
Iran is a regime that doesn’t believe in laws, rules, or anything like that. It’s a state sponsor of terrorism. pic.twitter.com/kn2nnbZ71B
Unfortunately, while the U.S. will hold Iran accountable for threats to our interests, the world, in the form of the U.N., isn't willing to call them on the carpet for such actions against the Strait.
READ MORE: UN's Latest Hormuz Vote: A Shameful Moment for the World
At this point, what helps oppressive regimes like Iran and Cuba is this failure to act. Even now, we have all kinds of people on the left willing to prop both of these regimes up by their actions, attacking the Trump administration. But they may not be able to fend off the collapse.
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