Trump ally openly threatens Cuban officials in online frenzy: 'Wipe you out in minutes'
Rep. Carlos Giménez (R-FL), a Cuban-born lawmaker and close ally of President Donald Trump, issued a barrage of open threats to Cuban government officials Sunday, warning them that the United States had the “capability to wipe [them] all out in a matter of minutes.”
Following the U.S. attack and takeover of Venezuela – which included the capture of President Nicolás Maduro – calls among Republicans for the Trump administration to target Cuba next have intensified, with Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) and Giménez leading the charge.
While Graham would issue just one explicit threat to Cuban leadership – that their opportunity to flee was quickly expiring – Giménez instead opted to directly reply to Cuban government officials on social media, writing several posts that included threats of kidnapping and military intervention.
For instance, Cuban Minister of Foreign Affairs Bruno Rodríguez Parrilla called for the international community to demand the release of Maduro and his wife from U.S. captivity on Sunday in a social media post. About 30 minutes later, Giménez responded with an ominous response.
“Don't worry so much about Maduro and drop the scandal,” Giménez wrote. “Your future will be much worse.”
In another social media post, Giménez shared an image of Maduro in U.S. custody, only doctored to swap Maduro for Cuban President Miguel Díaz-Canel, and writing that Díaz-Canel was “next” to be abducted by U.S. forces.
To Cuban diplomat Carlos F. de Cossio, Giménez issued a rare bit of praise, calling him potentially the “cleverest” Cuban official, albeit with an ominous warning.
“Seize the moment and negotiate while there's still time,” Giménez wrote in a social media post on X. “There's not much left.”
And again to Parrilla, Giménez issued another ominous threat.
“You all lie shamelessly,” Giménez wrote. “No one believes you anymore. You don't have much time left.”
Giménez’s parents were wealthy landowners in Cuba under the rule of U.S.-backed dictator Fulgencio Batista, but fled following the 1959 Cuban Revolution, which saw the systematic seizure of land and property held by foreigners, elites and Batista officials, albeit with compensation in the form of Cuban bonds.