Cuban-American lawmakers warn Cuba is closer than ever to regime change under Trump administration
Cuban-American lawmakers warned Saturday that Cuba’s spiraling humanitarian and economic crisis has pushed the island near the brink of collapse, arguing the Trump administration has a narrow window to intensify pressure on Havana and potentially reshape the future of the Western Hemisphere.
"We have never been this close to seeing a change and this regime actually being ousted," Rep. Carlos Gimenez, R-Fla., told Fox News, detailing his message to the Cuban people.
"There's a lot of hope in Cuba right now... We have the right president, we have the right Secretary of State," Gimenez said. "You have three Cuban Americans and a very small majority in the House of Representatives that are working for your cause, and we will never forget you, so my message is... it's gonna happen."
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Gimenez, along with fellow Florida Reps. Maria Salazar and Mario Diaz-Balart, joined "My View with Lara Trump" for an exclusive sit-down interview discussing the topic.
There, they highlighted widespread blackouts, energy shortages and growing unrest on the island while framing Cuba not only as a humanitarian disaster, but as an escalating national security threat sitting just 90 miles off the U.S. coast.
"We're only 90 miles away from Miami, the city that I represent, with Western values that 65 years ago, a bunch of thieves took away that possibility, but now President Trump, after 10 administrations, is bringing that possibility back to the Cubans," Salazar said.
Diaz-Balart highlighted that close proximity as a threat to U.S. national security, insisting that President Donald Trump is equally aware and won't stand by idly.
"The reason we are so hopeful is because this president is not gonna continue to allow a regime 90 miles away that has drones that can hit the United States, that harbors fugitives from U.S. law, and, let's not forget that now, just this week, we are commemorating the murder of three Americans and one U.S. resident that were murdered in cold blood by the Cuban regime," he said.
"Nobody has been willing to do anything about it until Donald Trump."
Salazar echoed that argument, pointing to the Trump administration’s focus on the Western Hemisphere as proof the White House is prepared to aggressively confront hostile regimes in the region.
"Look what he did with Maduro. That was a mothership of evil in Western Hemisphere because, from the drug standpoint, there would have been no Venezuela if Cuba would have not sent the book of repression," Salazar said. "But thank God that's coming to an end very soon."