Cubans Defy Communist Regime to Celebrate Marco Rubio Birthday
Cubans at risk of government retaliation publicly thanked U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio on his 55th birthday for his aggressive sanctions campaign against the Castro regime.
Marco Rubio, America’s first Cuban-American secretary of state, turned 55 on Thursday, May 28. His birthday comes as the Trump administration escalates its pressure campaign against the Castro regime, targeting the national security threat posed by the communist state and holding accountable those who enable its terrorism and oppression.
According to Breitbart News, the U.S. embassy in Havana posted a Spanish-language message on Facebook asking Cubans what message they would send to Rubio on his birthday. The post included a photograph of the secretary of state alongside Mike Hammer, the embassy’s charge d’affaires.
Martí Noticias reported that dozens of Cuban citizens responded with messages of appreciation, thanking Rubio and the Trump administration for their actions against the Castro regime. Many expressed hope that after 67 years of communist tyranny, they might finally see a free Cuba. Some invited Rubio to celebrate his next birthday on the island once freedom is restored.
One Cuban user wrote thanking Rubio for fighting to liberate Cuba from communism, while another declared that the Cuban people are witnessing a new dawn.
The State Department marked the occasion by posting a video compilation of Rubio’s recent viral moments on social media.
Rubio has recently imposed fresh sanctions on the regime’s GAESA conglomerate, cutting off funding streams that support authoritarian control and the repression of the Cuban people. He has also sanctioned Cuban ministries and officials directly responsible for the regime’s repressive apparatus, and announced the arrest and pending deportation of Adys Lastres Morera, sister of GAESA chief Ania Guillermina Lastres.
These measures coincide with the U.S. Department of Justice’s indictment of nonagenarian dictator Raúl Castro for his role in the murders of four Cuban-American men during the 1990s.
Cubans who publicly support Rubio or the United States do so at considerable personal peril. The Castro regime routinely punishes citizens with physical violence and lengthy prison sentences for posting anti-regime content online, branding such expression as counter-revolutionary or terrorist propaganda.
This week alone, the regime rearrested 51-year-old Erick Alain Chang Padrón after he refused to cease posting regime-critical content as demanded by authorities. Meanwhile, eight Cuban anti-communists remain unjustly imprisoned on spurious terrorism charges for their social media activity. Their trial, scheduled for Thursday, was suspended indefinitely by the regime.
Nevertheless, the Trump administration’s intensified actions have emboldened new forms of peaceful protest within Cuba. As Breitbart News exclusively reported last week, anti-communist dissidents launched a campaign titled “God Save Cuba, SOS Trump,” in which Cubans pray for divine intervention toward freedom while appealing directly to President Trump for assistance against the Castro dictatorship.
With information from Breitbart News
