V008-EEUU MARCO RUBIO NEGOCIACIONES CON CUBA

STORY: The likelihood of a negotiated, peaceful agreement between the United States and Cuba is not high at the moment, U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said on Thursday (May 21) as Washington steps up its pressure campaign against the island's government.

Rubio said the United States always prefers a negotiated settlement.

"That remains our preference with Cuba," he told reporters. "I'm just being honest with you, you know, the likelihood of that happening, given who we're dealing with right now, is not high. But if they have a change of heart, you know, we're here. And in the meantime, we'll keep doing what we need to do."

President Donald Trump is pushing for "regime change" in Cuba, where Castro's communists ‌have been in charge since his late brother Fidel Castro led a revolution in 1959.

Cuba has accepted the U.S. offer of $100 million in humanitarian aid, Rubio said.

The United States announced murder charges against former Cuban President Raúl Castro on Wednesday, a major escalation that marked a new low in relations between the longtime Cold War rivals.

Rubio also said that a diplomatic deal between the United States and Iran would be unfeasible if Tehran implemented a tolling system in the Strait of Hormuz.

"No one in the world is in favor of the tolling system. It can't happen. It would be unacceptable. It would make a diplomatic deal unfeasible if they were to continue to pursue that. So it's a threat to the world if they were trying to do that, and it's completely illegal," Rubio said.

He also told reporters there had been some progress in talks with Tehran to end the U.S.-Israeli war on Iran, but that Washington was dealing with "a system that itself is a little fractured."

"There's some good signs," Rubio said. "I don't want to be overly optimistic ... So, let's see what happens over the next few days."

DESCRIPCIÓN DE IMÁGENES

Source

Language

Clear AllApply

Trending

Editors' Choice

Story Clusters

Today in History

Rubio: likelihood of negotiated agreement with Cuba "not high"

Thursday, 21st May 2026, 18:36

U.S. NETWORK POOL

Play Video

Play

Mute

Current Time 0:00

04:12

Keyframe

Download KeyframeXML

Download XML

Rubio: likelihood of negotiated agreement with Cuba "not high"

VIDEO SHOWS: SOUNDBITES FROM U.S. SECRETARY OF STATE, MARCO RUBIO, AS HE DEPARTS MIAMI FOR SWEDEN, REGARDING CUBA, IRAN AND INDIA

RESENDING WITH COMPLETE SCRIPT

SHOWS: MIAMI, FLORIDA, UNITED STATES (MAY 21, 2026) (U.S. NETWORK POOL - Broadcast: No use USA Digital: No use USA)

1. GENERAL VIEW OF U.S. SECRETARY OF STATE, MARCO RUBIO, EXITING CAR AND WALKING TOWARD REPORTERS

2. (SOUNDBITE) (English) U.S. SECRETARY OF STATE, MARCO RUBIO, SAYING:

"The President's preference is always a negotiated agreement that's peaceful. That's always our preference, that remains our preference with Cuba. I'm just being honest with you. The likelihood of that happening given who we're dealing with right now, is not high. But if they have a change of heart, we're here. And in the meantime, we'll keep doing what we need to do."

3. WHITE FLASH

4. (SOUNDBITE) (English) U.S. SECRETARY OF STATE, MARCO RUBIO, SAYING:

"Are we offended that the Cubans have not accepted our 100 million? Well they say that they've accepted it. We'll see if that means it. Because here's the thing - we're not going to do humanitarian aid that falls into the hands of their military company that they have and then they take that stuff and they sell it at the dollar stores and put the money in their pocket. That's not going to work that way."

5. WHITE FLASH

6. (SOUNDBITE) (English) U.S. SECRETARY OF STATE, MARCO RUBIO, SAYING:

"That said, our preference is always a diplomatic solution. Always. And a negotiated agreement. That's always our preference. But, to answer your question, if there's a threat to the national security of the United States, the President has not just the right, he has the obligation to address that national security threat."

7. WHITE FLASH

8. (SOUNDBITE) (English) U.S. SECRETARY OF STATE, MARCO RUBIO, SAYING:

"So the future of Cuba belongs to the people of Cuba. In terms of how they're governed, what the system looks like, and so forth. But the national security threat, that's a hundred percent something we're going to focus on because that's about America."

9. WHITE FLASH

10. (SOUNDBITE) (English) U.S. SECRETARY OF STATE, MARCO RUBIO, SAYING:

"No one in the world is in favor of a tolling system [referring to Iran and the Strait of Hormuz]. it can't happen, it would be unacceptable, it would make a diplomatic deal unfeasible if they were to continue to pursue that. So, it's a threat to the world if they were to try to do that. And it's completely illegal by the way."

11. WHITE FLASH

12. (SOUNDBITE) (English) U.S. SECRETARY OF STATE, MARCO RUBIO, SAYING:

"(REPORTER ASKING: THERE ARE SOME REPORTS THAT THE U.S. IS GOING TO SAY THIS WEEK IT WILL REDUCE ITS CONTRIBUTION TO THE NATO FORCE MODEL. TO SHRINK THE NUMBER OF FORCES AVAILABLE - ) RUBIO RESPONDING: Well first of all, any changes to our posture in NATO would not be for me to announce. That's something that the President, the Department of War would do, this is a foreign ministers' meeting. We'll talk about some of those issues. I don't think anyone is shocked to know the United States, and the President in particular, is very disappointed at NATO right now."

13. WHITE FLASH

14. (SOUNDBITE) (English) U.S. SECRETARY OF STATE, MARCO RUBIO, SAYING:

"The President's been very disappointed. Understand that there have been many countries in NATO that agree with us that Iran can't have a nuclear weapon, that Iran is a threat to the world. So the President said 'Fine, I'm going to do something about it.' He's not asking them to commit troops. He's not asking them to send their fighter jets in, but they refuse to do anything so I think the President looks at that and says 'hold on a second.' If all these countries around the world agree with us that Iran can't have a nuclear weapon, that this regime is a threat to world peace and security, that already have missiles that can reach Europe - they don't have missiles that can reach America yet - but they have missiles that can reach Europe, we're actually stepping forward and doing something about it, and everyone goes into hiding, yeah, I think that we're very upset about that, and the President has made that very clear."

15. WHITE FLASH

16. (SOUNDBITE) (English) U.S. SECRETARY OF STATE, MARCO RUBIO, SAYING:

"I believe the Pakistanis will be traveling to Tehran today, so hopefully that will advance this further. The President's preference is to do a good deal. That's his preference. It's always been his preference. If we can get a good deal done, that would be great. I'm not here to tell you it's going to happen for sure, but I'm here to tell you that we're going to do everything we can to see if we can get one. But if we can't get a good deal, the President's been clear - he has other options. I'm not going to elaborate on what those are, but everybody knows what those are. But his preference is always a deal. His preference is always an agreement. His preference is always diplomacy, so let's see if we can get there. There are some good signs, but I don't want to be overly optimistic so let's see what happens over the next few days."

17. WHITE FLASH

18. (SOUNDBITE) (English) U.S. SECRETARY OF STATE, MARCO RUBIO, SAYING:

"We also think there's opportunities with Venezuelan oil, in face it's my understanding that the interim President of Venezuela will be traveling to India next week. There's a lot to work on with India. They're a great ally, a great partner, we do a lot of good work with them, and so this is an important trip, I'm glad we're able to do it. I think there will be a lot for us to talk about."

19. RUBIO WALKING UP STAIRS OF PLANE, WAVING AND BOARDING

Reuters

Compactado

Internacional

4m 11s

Ambiente