Marco Rubio has used the platform X to send a pointed message aimed at Cuba's population. The US Secretary of State wrote that the time has come for Cubans to work with the Central Intelligence Agency. The appeal was directed at ordinary citizens rather than at the government in Havana. Urging an entire population to engage with a foreign intelligence service is a rare and blunt form of public diplomacy. The post lands during a stretch of harsh language between Washington and Havana, with tensions between the two capitals running high. Cuban authorities have long branded the CIA an enemy of the island, so a response is unlikely to be delayed. By addressing the people directly, Rubio signaled that Washington sees the Cuban public as part of the equation.