The New Dark Age

Havana, Sept. 10, 2026

Although the title of this commentary seems straight out of a tabloid, the reality is that the head of the U.S. State Department, the mythomaniac Marco Rubio, has developed a diabolical obsession with trying to overthrow the Cuban government.

With his deep-seated hatred of Havana, Rubio — who overnight became the “lapdog” of convicted President Donald Trump — announces a new round of extortion, euphemistically called “sanctions,” almost every week, every Thursday to be exact. The latest round targeted the financial, mining-metallurgical and energy sectors.

The offensive by Washington and its State Department, following the executive orders of Jan. 29 and May 1, 2026, includes sanctions against 40 entities and 38 individuals, as well as an international crackdown on Cuba’s medical assistance program, the dissemination of fake news about human rights violations, and espionage networks.

A commentary published in the Mexican newspaper La Jornada notes that Rubio boasted in a statement that “these designations reflect President Trump’s unwavering vision of a free Cuba.” The State Department under his leadership has once again intensified its McCarthyist propaganda, reminiscent of the 1940s and 1950s, when actors, directors and screenwriters were persecuted in Hollywood. Charles Chaplin, Orson Welles and Dalton Trumbo were blacklisted during that era. Today, such a phenomenon would be unthinkable in the film industry because most of its members oppose the tycoon who is in power. But Rubio sees communists everywhere — and, above all, in Cuba.

The truth is that the dictatorship established in the United States following the rise to power of a millionaire, neo-fascist elite cannot allow the model of a small island to prevail in Latin America — an island that, in recent decades, has offered selfless support to nations suffering from natural disasters or diseases, despite enduring an illegal economic, commercial and financial blockade that has lasted more than 60 years.

It is this Cuban model that they seek to destroy by any means necessary, and above all, to try to isolate the island and starve its people to death, just as the then-Spanish Captain General Valeriano Weyler attempted to do when he established concentration camps against the Cuban population and prevented them from aiding the heroic Mambises — an action that led to the deaths of more than 200,000 civilians from starvation and disease between 1896 and 1898.

Let us recall once again that as early as April 6, 1960, the United States set forth in writing the foundations of its genocidal policy against Cuba when Deputy Assistant Secretary of State Lester D. Mallory defined the philosophy behind the economic, commercial and financial blockade imposed unilaterally months later, stating:

The majority of Cubans support Castro … The only foreseeable means of alienating internal support is through disenchantment and disaffection based on economic dissatisfaction and hardship … every possible means should be undertaken promptly to weaken the economic life of Cuba … a line of action which, while as adroit and inconspicuous as possible, makes the greatest inroads in denying money and supplies to Cuba, to decrease monetary and real wages, to bring about hunger, desperation and overthrow of government.

But while that genocidal memorandum was secret at the time, the Trump administration and its secretary of state are now openly and unscrupulously stating their intentions.

So much so that in an interview with the right-wing outlet Axios, Rubio stated that every time they create a new mechanism to try to escape the noose, we simply tighten it further.

Foreign Minister Bruno Rodríguez, when presenting to the press Cuba’s Report on the Impact of the Economic, Commercial, and Financial Blockade Imposed by the United States, described U.S. policy as an act of collective punishment against the people, with growing repercussions affecting food, electricity, water, health, education, transportation and families’ living conditions.

The cumulative damages since the implementation of this suffocating policy amount to $178.7 billion, a 4.7% increase over the figure reported in the previous report.

Likewise, between March 1, 2025, and Feb. 28, 2026, Washington’s web of unilateral coercive measures and restrictions caused the island damages totaling $8.08 billion — a record figure.

As a small illustration of the sinister figure who heads the State Department, this example is sobering.

In 2016, during the presidential campaign pitting Trump against Rubio, the latter declared:

“Trump is a con artist. He is dangerous and erratic. He is not ready to be president. We cannot entrust him with our nuclear weapons. His business record shows that he takes advantage of people.”

Then, in 2026, as secretary of state, he said:

“Trump is a president who seeks peace through strength. He prefers diplomatic solutions over military conflicts. He has invested enormous political capital to end wars, such as the one in Ukraine.”

Without any shame, this mythomaniac also changes his skin like a chameleon. Judge for yourself, dear reader.

Hedelberto López Blanch is a Cuban journalist who writes for the daily newspaper Juventud Rebelde and the weekly Opciones. He is the author of “Cuban Emigration to the United States,” “Secret Stories of Cuban Doctors in Africa,” “Miami, Dirty Money,” and “Rubio, an Uncontrollable Mythomaniac,” and a frequent contributor to Cuba en Resumen.

Source: Cuba en Resumen