![\"U.S.](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/GettyImages-2262969140.jpg\" "\\"U.S.")
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U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio gives a thumbs up as he attends a Caribbean Community (CARICOM) plenary session in Basseterre, Saint Kitts and Nevis on Feb. 25.<\/p>\n
JONATHAN ERNST<\/p>\n
POOL\/AFP via Getty Images<\/p>\n
What kind of \u201cdeal\u201d should the U.S. make in Cuba?<\/p>\n
Since last month, we\u2019ve been hearing that Secretary of State Marco Rubio was negotiating behind the scenes<\/a> with Cuba\u2019s leadership to make a deal \u2014 President Trump\u2019s favorite word \u2014 as the country faces a crippling energy crisis exacerbated by the U.S. cutting off oil supplies from Venezuela and Mexico.<\/p>\n Any agreement between the U.S. and Cuba will be considered a failure in Miami if it doesn\u2019t directly benefit the Cuban people and frees them from nearly seven decades of oppression. Cubans need free enterprise, free speech and economic opportunities. We understand this cannot happen overnight, but it should be America\u2019s goal.<\/p>\n Venezuela is, of course, the example staring us in the face.<\/p>\n The U.S. government removed Nicol\u00e1s Maduro from power two months ago. But Delcy Rodriguez, his former vice president and now interim president, is running the show. Venezuelan opposition leader Maria Corina Machado has, so far, been sidelined along with Edmundo Gonz\u00e1lez, the presidential candidate she backed in 2024 when she was banned from running and is widely considered to have won the elections.<\/p>\n How much real change has there been in Venezuela since U.S. intervention began? Anyone watching events unfold regarding Cuba will be thinking about that.<\/p>\n On Friday, in a government meeting broadcast on state television, Cuban leader Miguel D\u00edaz-Canel confirmed for the first time<\/a> what the Miami Herald had been reporting: The Cuban government is engaged in talks with the United States. The talks, he said, according to the Herald, are aimed more at cooperation than confrontation, a critically important distinction.<\/p>\n A few hours earlier, on Thursday, there was another sign of movement: The Cuban government said it was releasing 51 prisoners as a goodwill gesture toward the Vatican. That seems like a positive indication, bolstering the idea that Cuba-U.S. relations are changing.<\/p>\n For Miami, this is a head-spinning time.<\/p>\n Yes, we have seen some of this before. Cuba has released political prisoners<\/a> amid negotiations with the United States in the past, including in January 2025, when it freed 553 prisoners as \u201ca gesture\u201d to then-Pope Francis. That was part of a deal cut with the Biden administration, which removed Cuba from the U.S. list of nations that sponsor terrorism.<\/p>\n But this feels different. That\u2019s partly because of this extraordinary juxaposition: Rubio, a Cuban American, was the one meeting with Ra\u00fal Castro\u2019s grandson, Ra\u00fal Guillermo Rodriguez Castro, in St. Kitts last month.<\/p>\n Rubio\u2019s family immigrated to the U.S. from Cuba in the 1950s. He\u2019s from Miami, steeped in exile politics. He has long urged the U.S. to aggressively oppose the Cuban government, a government that has for decades been virtually synonymous with Fidel Castro, now deceased, and his brother, Ra\u00fal. Rubio is, in many ways, uniquely qualified for this moment.<\/p>\n There are questions, though \u2014 big ones. Miami-Dade Commissioner Natalie Milian Orbis issued a press release Friday, titled, \u201cAny deal that keeps Cuba communist is unacceptable.\u201d<\/p>\n She lauded the negotiations, giving the president credit for restoring pressure on Cuba and forcing its government to the table. And then she raised this point: \u201cAs long as the regime refuses free and competitive elections, continues jailing and persecuting dissidents, and refuses to recognize lawful property rights, the United States must not legitimize or finance its oppression.\u201d<\/p>\n U.S. Rep. Mario D\u00edaz-Balart said it a couple of days ago in a Herald story: \u201cPartial changes are not acceptable<\/a>; the concept of Ra\u00fal without Ra\u00fal is not acceptable to this administration.\u201d He was referring to the idea that other members of the Castro family could remain in charge of the country.<\/p>\n We hope those kinds of doubts do not cripple progress in Cuba. And this is a unique time. Cuba is weak.<\/p>\n D\u00edaz-Balart told the Herald that the Trump administration has been having conversations with several people in Ra\u00fal Castro\u2019s close circle. Rubio, meanwhile, has been careful not to raise hopes of sweeping change, a wise way to manage expectations.<\/p>\n \u201cEveryone is mature and realistic<\/a> here,\u201d Rubio said in a press conference last month in Saint Kitts on the same day his team met with Castro\u2019s grandson.<\/p>\n Trump and Rubio may be on the right track for Cuba. But in Miami, where Cuba has loomed large in politics for decades, real justice and freedom is still the most important goal. That will be the real art of the deal for the Trump administration.<\/p>\n BEHIND THE STORY MORE <\/a> What’s an editorial? <\/p>\n Editorials<\/a> are opinion pieces that reflect the views of the Miami Herald Editorial Board, a group of opinion journalists that operates separately from the Miami Herald newsroom. Miami Herald Editorial Board<\/a> members are: opinion editor Amy Driscoll and editorial writers Isadora Rangel and Mary Anna Mancuso. Read more by clicking the arrow in the upper right.<\/p>\n What’s the difference between an op-ed and a column? <\/p>\n Op-Eds<\/a>, short for \u201copposite the editorial page,\u201d are opinion pieces written by contributors who are not affiliated with our Editorial Board. <\/p>\n Columns<\/a> are recurring opinion pieces that represent the views of staff columnists that regularly appear on the op-ed page. <\/p>\n How does the Miami Herald Editorial Board decide what to write about? <\/p>\n The Editorial Board, made up of experienced opinion journalists, primarily addresses local and state issues that affect South Florida residents. Each board member has an area of focus, such as education, COVID or local government policy. Board members meet daily and bring up an array of topics for discussion. Once a topic is fully discussed, board members will further report the issue, interviewing stakeholders and others involved and affected, so that the board can present the most informed opinion possible. We strive to provide our community with thought leadership that advocates for policies and priorities that strengthen our communities. Our editorials promote social justice, fairness in economic, educational and social opportunities and an end to systemic racism and inequality. The Editorial Board is separate from the reporters and editors of the Miami Herald newsroom.<\/p>\n How can I contribute to the Miami Herald Opinion section? <\/p>\n The Editorial Board accepts op-ed submissions of 650-700 words from community members who want to argue a specific viewpoint or idea that is relevant to our area. You can email an op-ed submission to oped@miamiherald.com. We also accept 150-word letters to the editor from readers who want to offer their points of view on current issues. For more information on how to submit a letter, go here<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio gives a thumbs up as he attends a Caribbean Community (CARICOM) plenary…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":190459,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[88960,8877,123,88958,125,124,9395,88959],"class_list":["post-190458","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-miami","tag-cuban-prisoners-release","tag-marco-rubio","tag-miami","tag-miami-cuba-talks","tag-miami-headlines","tag-miami-news","tag-miguel-diaz-canel","tag-u-s-cuba-negotiations"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/190458","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=190458"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/190458\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/190459"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=190458"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=190458"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=190458"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}