Rubio: Cuba a 'national security threat' to US, peaceful agreement unlikely

Cuba poses a "national security threat" to the US and the likelihood of a peaceful agreement is "not high", US Secretary of State Marco Rubio has said.

His comments come just a day after the US charged Cuba's former president Raúl Castro with murder over the 1996 downing of two planes resulting in the killing of US nationals.

Speaking to reporters on Thursday, Rubio said diplomacy "remains our preference with Cuba", but added: "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."

He also accused Cuba of being "one of the leading sponsors of terrorism in the entire region", which Rodríguez vehemently denied in a post on X.

Asked by reporters whether - and how - his government would get Castro to the US to face the charges, Rubio replied: "I'm not going to talk about how we're going to get him here, if we were trying to get him here, why would I say to the media what our plans are about that?"

Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche, who announced the charges in Miami on Wednesday, said the US "expect he will show up here, by his own will or another way".

Speaking to reporters in the Oval Office, Trump said Cuba was a "failed country" and that his administration was trying to help them "on a humanitarian basis".

"Other presidents have looked at this for 50, 60 years doing something and it looks like I'll be the one that does it, so I would be happy to do it," Trump said.