The 50th Regular Meeting of the Conference of Heads of Government of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) recently concluded at the Marriott Beach Resort in Basseterre, Saint Kitts and Nevis.

Mr. Rubio made an appearance, breaking with the traditional approach of previous US administrations, which have virtually ignored these types of gatherings, probably because they see the Caribbean as a vast sun and beach destination, lacking hegemonic importance for their imperial ambitions.

Now Mr. Rubio, surely to show these small neighbors, according to Washington's view, that things are different with the Donroe Doctrine, went to interfere, as the saying goes, and certainly explained, with the blatant air of someone who owns his own backyard, the subordinate role that the represented governments must assume.

Following the established script, he lectured the assembled heads of government on how they should behave toward Venezuela and Cuba, disdainfully declaring that the era of the historic and fruitful relationship between Caribbean governments, regardless of their political affiliation, and these two countries was over.

The Trump-aligned foreign minister reiterated the karma of hemispheric security based on an arbitrary principle according to which the US believes it can achieve peace through force. In this case, CARICOM members must submit to Washington's pressure or face an existential threat, without clarifying what this threat entails.

In exchange for this blatant subservience, Mr. Rubio promised cooperation, including in health matters, without specifying details, adding that this could be an alternative to Cuba's historic, effective, and widely recognized collaboration through its medical brigades. It must be assumed that this is not the case. They will use one of the two hospital ships that the US Navy has for this purpose, given that President Trump promised them to the inhabitants of Greenland, where, according to him, the healthcare system is terrible—a complete absurdity, but that's another story.

Surely you remember when, at the beginning of Trump's administration, Mr. Rubio himself, on his first tour of the subregion, went to great lengths to threaten Caribbean leaders to expel the Cuban medical brigades, receiving a resounding rejection in response. Therefore, now, although he returned with the same old refrain, he was, let's say, more careful and evaded questions on the matter, only reiterating an old lie, one he has been repeating for years, about these medical brigades being a kind of human trafficking operation.

A particularly contentious point with the attendees was Mr. Rubio's reference to the "little war" being waged by the Pentagon against Caribbean fishermen, portrayed as dangerous drug traffickers. As a result, some 130 people have been murdered without due process, and it will never be known for certain what crime they committed. Some Caribbean leaders have witnessed their compatriots being killed by the "Pentagonist" hordes answering to the commander of Southern Command, practically powerless to intervene. Of course, this is peace through force; let's not forget that ethically absurd principle.

There were also rebukes regarding the Caribbean's relations with extra-continental powers, particularly China and, by extension, Russia. It was almost comical to hear the twists and turns in the Trumpian foreign minister's language when he addressed the issue, given that his boss, Trump, is scheduled to land in Beijing next April. So China is bad, but not that bad, although those who govern in the US don't want them here and hope that with their help the Asian giant's influence in the Caribbean will be balanced.

Besides the recurring theme of the Cuban medical brigades, Mr. Rubio reiterated his monologue about the situation in Cuba, without mentioning the economic war, whose existence he finally acknowledged a few days ago. It's like a kind of mockery of those present, who know all too well the impacts of the blockade imposed by successive US administrations against Cuban families. Therefore, in response, the attendees approved evaluating ways to help the largest island in the Caribbean under the current circumstances.

Before some casual journalists, Mr. Rubio tried to explain the decision to authorize small fuel deliveries to the Cuban private sector, and nothing for the government, he said emphatically and nonchalantly. In other words, zero for the national electricity system, hospitals, public transportation, telephone and internet services, nor for the distribution of the subsidized food basket or ambulances—that is, nothing for the average Cuban, as they now like to call the people. Clearly, this decision sounds like damage control, after the energy blockade has provoked extraordinary rejection worldwide, and especially among the overwhelming majority of Cubans, including those residing in the US.

In the context of Mr. Rubio's visit to Saint Kitts and Nevis, the terrorist operation against Cuba takes place. Information on this is still being compiled, although at first glance it seems to be vying for the prize for the stupidest action that the Miami-based counterrevolution has conceived in its already long and futile existence.

Imagine the scenario. On one hand, Mr. Rubio is trying to convince those attending the meeting, and the Caribbean public in general, of his good intentions, absurdly claiming that they have every right in the world to sink, without question, any boat they believe to be drug traffickers'. Meanwhile, a vessel sets sail from Florida, engages in combat in Cuban territorial waters, and, as expected, is conveniently neutralized.

On social media, many people even thought the news was a meme; certainly, many cannot imagine the true nature of the Miami mercenaries, this time victims of their own lies, trapped in an irrational, triumphalist logic with a digital bias, detached from reality, and transformed into cannon fodder for a neo-Batista elite that has always, for years, remained well protected.

It's best not to even mention the media, like EFE, and the usual suspects, the Cuban-American mobsters in Congress, who quickly tried to portray the attackers as victims. They claimed it was the murder of civilians, specifically U.S. citizens, without explaining how they knew their nationality, and that they were looking for relatives—another absurdity, because otherwise, why would ten heavily armed men be in a small boat, where they would also have to carry fuel for the return trip? There wasn't even room for a grain of salt in there.

As investigations are progressing, and the names of the terrorists are being revealed. Evidence is emerging of their involvement in all sorts of plans to invade Cuba, boasting about it on social media, where they have been inciting sabotage and all kinds of atrocities against the Cuban population. Apparently, the most foolish among them took the calls to action seriously, and this is what happened to them.

Caught red-handed, Mr. Rubio claimed to know nothing about the incident, that he only had the information released by the Cuban government, which, as usual, he dismissed as a reliable source. He promised an independent investigation, another lie, because those in power in the US are precisely the main belligerent and aggressive party against Cuba—anything but independent.

Incidentally, US authorities, beyond Mr. Rubio's pronouncements, will have something to say about the violation of several US laws by the terrorists involved, the most ludicrous being the theft of the vessel in question, according to the owner, a well-known Miami businessman. They could also be charged with organized crime, evading border controls and unauthorized departure, and incitement to murder, among the most obvious.

And the smartest thing would be for them to rein in those who train there in Florida every day to liberate Cuba from "communism," although, as we know, history overwhelmingly shows that they are quite tolerant of these mercenaries; even now, they have set up a very expensive air and naval operation in the Caribbean, but this stolen boat passed right under their noses. Anything to say, Lieutenant General Evan L. Pettus, head of Southern Command?

It is no surprise that some analysts warn that these kinds of actions seem to be the pattern, the justification, for increasing hostility against Cuba, similar to the so-called "Brothers to the Rescue" episode, precisely 30 years and one day after that event, which led to the intensification of the blockade and derailed the modest efforts that Clinton supposedly planned to implement to normalize relations with his neighbor.

That’s why, however Mr. Rubio puts it, the responsibility of US authorities is absolute, even if by omission, for not neutralizing the attackers. In any case, the worst rhetoric against Cuba heard in recent times emanates from Washington, fostering a perverse sense of impunity and the construction of a parallel universe that attempts to portray the Island of Dignity as defenseless, at the mercy of imperial will. Those who believe this story have been warned; they may pay dearly for their mistake.

Some hope may arise from this situation. According to statements by Cuban Deputy Foreign Minister Fernando de Cossio, the information-sharing mechanisms between the Coast Guard and Border Guard services functioned to some extent. In this context, the State Department was also informed of the attack, and according to reports, coordination between the parties is expected to determine responsibility. We shall see.

Referring to the pirate boat incident is not an unintentional digression from the central theme of this analysis, which concerns the 50th Regular Meeting of CARICOM. It’s likely—time will tell—that all of Secretary Rubio's efforts to peddle a false image were overshadowed by the foolish mercenary attack, swiftly quelled by five combatants with sufficient courage and other resources to protect their homeland.

But Mr. Rubio, after all, is part of a government sect, purveyors of falsehoods by the minute. During his first term, Trump had a tally of falsehoods he uttered daily; now he's infected all his staff. Mr. Rubio is a prime example, but there's the Secretary of Homeland Security, who claimed that some migrants were cannibals, and Vice President Vance, who was asked what Iranian nuclear program was threatening the US today, given that, according to the president, it had been destroyed in June of last year.

These days, Trump released his report on his work during the first year of his second term. Frankly, nothing to add. One of the longest speeches of this kind and one of the most useless, according to the scathing conclusion of a very influential newspaper in that country. That's how things are going for them.