US Renews $100m Offer to Cuba as Rubio Calls for Leadership Change

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio says Cuba’s economic collapse cannot be reversed while the current government remains in power, as Washington renewed a $100 million aid proposal to the island nation.

The renewed offer comes as Cuba faces severe economic and energy problems, with widespread power outages leaving much of the country without electricity this week.

Speaking aboard Air Force One during President Donald Trump’s trip to China, Rubio blamed Cuba’s communist leadership rather than US sanctions for the crisis.

“It’s a broken, nonfunctional economy, and it’s impossible to change it. I wish it were different,” Rubio said in an interview with Fox News presenter Sean Hannity.

“We’ll give them a chance. But I don’t think it’s going to happen,” he continued.

“I don’t think we’re going to be able to change the trajectory of Cuba as long as these people are in charge in that regime.”

Cuba’s government has repeatedly accused the United States of causing the island’s hardships through sanctions and restrictions on fuel imports.

On Wednesday, the US State Department renewed its public offer of $100 million in assistance after Rubio claimed last week that Havana had already rejected the proposal.

Cuban officials denied receiving any such offer.

According to Washington, the package would provide humanitarian aid and support for unrestricted internet access in Cuba.

“The regime refuses to allow the United States to provide this assistance to the Cuban people, who are in desperate need of assistance due to the failures of Cuba’s corrupt regime,” the State Department said.

“The decision rests with the Cuban regime to accept our offer of assistance or deny critical life-saving aid,” it added.

The worsening crisis has sparked a new wave of rare public protests across Cuba.

Residents in parts of Havana reportedly demonstrated against repeated blackouts, with protesters banging pots and pans and shouting demands for electricity to be restored.

Cuban President Miguel Díaz-Canel admitted the country was facing a “particularly tense” moment but blamed what he called a US “energy blockade”.

“This dramatic worsening has a single cause: the genocidal energy blockade to which the United States subjects our country,” Diaz-Canel posted on X.

Cuba’s fuel shortages deepened after the removal of Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro earlier this year, which disrupted oil shipments from Caracas.

Only one Russian tanker carrying fuel has reportedly reached the island since then.

The Trump administration had earlier sent $6 million in humanitarian assistance through Catholic Church organisations operating in Cuba.

Meanwhile, Cuban Foreign Minister Bruno Rodríguez Parrilla dismissed Rubio’s statements about the aid package.

“Will it be a donation, a deception or a dirty deal to curtail our independence? Wouldn’t it be easier to lift the fuel blockade?” Rodriguez wrote on social media.

Reports indicate Rubio has also been holding contacts with influential figures within Cuba in an effort to encourage political change.

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