Cuba just got told by America to team up with the CIA

So let's slow down on that.

A sitting US Secretary of State does not normally tell another country's citizens to go contact the CIA. Out loud. On a public account.

That's usually the part of American foreign policy nobody says out loud.

And it didn't come out of nowhere.

Trump told the crowd that American warships coming back from the war with Iran could swing by Cuba first. He said one could stop about 50 yards off the coast. Then he'd send Rubio in to, in his words, finish up the deal.

Someone in the crowd shouted a question about Cuba. That's what set him off.

And this rally was days before the midterm elections on 3 November. In South Florida. Home to one of the biggest Cuban-American communities in the whole country.

So the timing is not an accident.

Now, the build-up. In May, after the US charged former Cuban leader Raúl Castro, Trump said it looks like he'll be the one that does it. Meaning military action.

At the United Nations last month, Trump said Rubio was deep into negotiations with Cuba. He said he would not allow a haven for foreign adversaries on America's doorstep. Days later he said he expected a deal without force, because Cuba is failing very badly.

Rubio's been laying groundwork too. On Fox News last month he said Cuba has already fallen, pointing at its economy. American officials met Cuban representatives several times in recent months. The US side came away unimpressed. Washington answered with more sanctions.

Pressure. Then more pressure. Then this.

And right after Rubio's post, the CIA put out its own message. In Spanish. Giving instructions for contacting the agency, including using a VPN and a burner email account.

Cuba hit back fast. Foreign Minister Bruno Rodríguez wrote that Cuba's coastline holds razor-sharp limestone spikes waiting for anyone who shows up with hostile purposes.

Deputy Foreign Minister Carlos Fernández de Cossio mocked the move, comparing the CIA to a tube of toothpaste being sold door to door.

Here's the thing though. Cuba mocked it. Cuba didn't deny it.

Its Foreign Ministry never said the CIA has no people there. It just said Washington looks desperate.

One wire report said Rubio's post appeared to confirm the CIA is active in Cuba right now. But that's the wire's own reading. Not something Rubio or the CIA has actually confirmed.

Fox News reports that Trump gave no detail on any real plan, military or diplomatic. It also reports that Rubio never named a specific CIA operation.

So three things are still open. Does the CIA already have people working inside Cuba? Was the warship line a real plan or just rally talk? And what is this partnership actually supposed to produce?

None of that has been answered yet.