Southern Command Amplifies CIA Appeal to Cubans as Guiteras Plant Fails Again

HAVANA, Cuba — U.S. Southern Command on Saturday, Oct. 24, amplified the CIA’s public appeal for Cubans to work with American intelligence. That evening, Cuba’s largest power plant dropped off the national grid again, deepening blackouts across the island.

The two developments came a day after Secretary of State Marco Rubio urged Cubans seeking “positive change” to partner with the CIA. Washington is stepping up public pressure on Havana while the Cuban government struggles to keep the lights on.

SOUTHCOM joins the CIA appeal

In a post on its official X account on Saturday afternoon, SOUTHCOM quoted its commander, Gen. Francis L. Donovan: “Cuba’s future belongs to those who act. Seize the moment and build the change you want to see. No more broken promises, rampant corruption, or tolerating an elite class living in luxury while the citizens are ignored. Now is the time.” The post quoted a Spanish-language message the CIA had published the night before. SOUTHCOM also reposted Rubio’s original message.

Rubio’s post on Oct. 23 read: “To those who seek to create positive change in Cuba – now is the time. 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 discrete partnership with the CIA.” The CIA then posted a Spanish translation. The Boston Report covered Rubio’s original call on Friday.

SOUTHCOM, based in Doral, Florida, oversees U.S. military activity in Latin America and the Caribbean. Donovan met senior Cuban military officers at the perimeter of the U.S. naval base at Guantánamo Bay in May, according to CiberCuba, a Miami-based Cuban exile news outlet.

Havana responds

Cuban officials rejected the campaign. Deputy Foreign Minister Carlos Fernández de Cossío called the appeal a sign of “desperation” and compared the CIA’s offer to toothpaste advertising, CiberCuba reported. Foreign Minister Bruno Rodríguez Parrilla warned those who would arrive “with hostile aims.” “On our coasts there are beautiful beaches, but also diente de perro,” he said, using the Cuban name for the sharp coastal rock that lines much of the island’s shore.

In Washington, Rep. Carlos A. Giménez, a Cuban American Republican from Florida, welcomed the effort. “The regime in Havana must be relegated to the dustbin of history, and I know that day is closer than ever,” he said, according to CiberCuba.

Guiteras plant fails again

At 8:11 p.m. on Saturday, the Antonio Guiteras thermoelectric plant in Matanzas disconnected from the national grid. The state utility Unión Eléctrica (UNE) gave the cause as “turbine vibrations” in a Facebook post, as reported by CiberCuba. Guiteras is Cuba’s largest generating plant, with a nominal capacity of 316 megawatts.

The outage followed a string of failures this month. On Oct. 14, the plant went offline because of a leak in the boiler’s economizer. When it was reconnected on Oct. 20, it ran for only five minutes before failing again. It returned the next morning at about 150 megawatts, less than half its nominal capacity. On Oct. 1, an unexpected shutdown at Guiteras caused a total collapse of the national grid, the ninth nationwide blackout of the year, according to CiberCuba. The outlet reported that the plant has run for 38 years without a major capital overhaul.

Even before Saturday’s failure, the grid was badly short of power. At 6 a.m., UNE reported 915 megawatts of available generation against demand of 2,104 megawatts. For the evening peak it forecast demand of 2,850 megawatts and shortfalls of up to 1,865 megawatts. In Havana, 109 circuits were without power early Saturday. In Santiago de Cuba, two units at the Antonio Maceo plant were out of service and a third was under maintenance, CiberCuba reported.

What comes next

U.S. officials have not said what a “partnership with the CIA” would involve beyond the public posts. Havana has not announced a timeline for bringing Guiteras back online. Further coverage of U.S. military activity in the Caribbean is on our Military Deployments Tracker and our Geopolitics, World Affairs and Warfare hubs.

Sources

• U.S. Southern Command on X, Oct. 24, 2026
• Secretary Marco Rubio on X, Oct. 23, 2026
• CIA on X (Spanish), Oct. 23, 2026
• CiberCuba (Miami-based exile outlet): Guiteras disconnects over turbine vibrations

Additional sources

• CiberCuba: SOUTHCOM urges Cubans to seize the moment