Federal congressmen Carlos Giménez and Mario Díaz-Balart announced today that they will formally request the Government of donald trump the total suspension of flights between the United States and Cuba, as well as the cessation of sending remittancesas part of a strategy to increase economic and diplomatic pressure on Havana.
The announcement was made during a press conference at the headquarters of the Cuban Democratic Directorate, in Miami, with the participation of members of the Cuban Resistance Assembly, exile representatives, local elected officials and community activists.
Giménez to Sheinbaum: “Stop sending oil to Cuba”
Giménez affirmed that the Cuban issue is part of a broader regional agenda that includes Venezuela and Nicaragua.
“There are certain things that we are not going to negotiate: the freedom of Nicaragua, Venezuela and Cuba,” he declared, while ensuring that the current correlation of forces in Congress gives political weight to his demands.
He also asked Mexico to suspend the shipment of oil to the island and asked Washington to stop flights and remittances, arguing that these flows “prolong” the permanence of the Cuban Government in power.
“What I am asking the president of Mexico today, Claudia Sheinbaum, is to stop sending oil to Cuba. Why are you sending billions of dollars to a regime that is oppressing its people for more than 65 years, that there is no type of freedom? Why are you sending free oil to Cuba when you have needs in Mexico with your own people?” demanded the congressman.
In his speech, Giménez described the Government of Havana as a “cancer” for the region and maintained that the elimination of external income would be a way to accelerate political change on the island. “We have to take away all the income from these bandits who are in charge of Cuba,” he stated.
Mario Díaz-Balat: “The Cuban regime has never been so weak”
For his part, Mario Díaz-Balart assured that the current political moment is “key” and affirmed that the US Executive would be willing to advance new measures.
“We are now at a key moment. After almost seven decades of that nightmare in Cuba, we are seeing that, finally, that change is approaching,” he said. He also pointed out that Washington could increase pressure on third countries, such as Mexico and European nations, which he accused of maintaining economic ties with the Cuban government.
“The Cuban regime has never been so weak,” said Díaz-Balart, who maintained that the ultimate goal is “the elimination of that dictatorship 90 miles from the United States.”
Congresswoman María Elvira Salazar joined the statements, who did not attend the event, but spread a message on the social network
“This is the time to stop everything: no more tourism, no more remittances, no more mechanisms that continue to finance and sustain the dictatorship,” he wrote.
The time for Cuba’s freedom has arrived. Today we have a President and a Secretary of State determined to cleanse our hemisphere of satraps, drug traffickers and dictators.
But exile also has a historical responsibility: to stop giving oxygen to…
— María Elvira Salazar 🇺🇸 (@MaElviraSalazar) January 29, 2026
In his message, he acknowledged the humanitarian impact of these restrictions, but raised what he described as a “dilemma” between alleviating immediate needs and promoting structural change in Cuba.
The announced proposals revive a recurring debate within US policy towards the island. Remittances and commercial flights have been, for years, one of the main channels of contact between Cuban families and the diaspora, as well as a relevant source of income for the battered Cuban economy.
The congressmen’s statements come hours after Trump assured that Cuba “is about to fall” because it has not received oil from Venezuela since Nicolás Maduro was removed from power.
Trump assures that Cuba “is about to fall” because it no longer receives oil from Venezuela
“Cuba is about to fall. Cuba is a nation that is very close to collapse,” he assured the press before holding a rally in Iowa. The Republican stressed that Havana “got its money from Venezuela, it got its oil from Venezuela, but they no longer have it.”
Trump maintains that the Cuban Government has its days numbered since the United States attack on Venezuela on January 3, which resulted in the capture of Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores, who were transferred to New York, where they face drug trafficking charges.
Washington believes that the end of the shipment of Venezuelan crude oil to the island will cause a regime change in Cuba, a country affected by a serious economic and social crisis.
