Rubio calls for Cubans to work with CIA, but warns: Be 'discreet'

WASHINGTON: US Secretary of State Marco Rubio on Friday urged Cubans to make "discreet" contact with American intelligence services as Washington seeks to force an end to the island's communist government.

For months, President Donald Trump and other senior US officials have openly hinted at a military intervention or takeover of Cuba, ramping up economic, political and legal pressure on the country.

"To those who seek to create positive change in Cuba – now is the time," Rubio said on social media.

"The disappointment of failed promises, corruption, and the privileged lives of only a few; seize this opportunity to create the change you desire through a discreet partnership with the CIA."

Trump, speaking at a midterm rally in Florida earlier on Friday, underlined his ambitions to impose regime change in Cuba.

"Those beautiful (military) ships will pass Cuba. We'll have one of them stop about 50 yards off the coast. They'll raise up their hands. And then we're going to send Marco Rubio in to finish up the deal."

In the latest US move against the Cuban leadership, Florida's top prosecutor this week announced an arrest warrant for former president Raul Castro on state murder charges that echo a federal indictment unveiled earlier this year.

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Castro, 95, is wanted on murder charges connected to the 1996 shooting down of two civilian aircraft belonging to "Brothers to the Rescue", an organisation assisting Cubans fleeing to the US state by sea.

Castro, brother of the late revolutionary leader and US nemesis Fidel Castro, was indicted on federal charges related to the incident in May.

Trump previously seized on a US indictment to justify military action that toppled Venezuela's then-president Nicolas Maduro, a staunch ally of the Cuban authorities.

Current Cuban President Miguel Diaz-Canel has said the US federal indictment against Castro has "no legal basis" and was an attempt "to justify the folly of a military aggression against Cuba".

Washington also imposed a de facto energy blockade on Cuba in January, threatening to sanction any country that supplies fuel to the island of 9.4 million people.