Rubio doubtful of diplomacy with Cuba as Trump renews threat of military action | US news
US President Donald Trump and Secretary of State Marco Rubio once again raised the possibility of military intervention in Cuba on Thursday; This threat took on added weight a day after the administration filed criminal charges against the island’s former leader, Raúl Castro.
Trump said previous U.S. presidents had considered intervening in Cuba for decades, but “it looked like I would be the one to do it.”
“Other presidents have been looking at this, doing things, for 50, 60 years,” Trump told reporters when asked about Cuba during an environmental event in the Oval Office. “And it looks like I’ll be the one to do it. So I’d be happy to do it.”
Rubio told reporters separately that Cuba has posed a national security threat for years because of its ties to U.S. adversaries and that Trump intends to combat the problem.
Rubio, the son of Cuban immigrants who has long taken a hard line against Cuba’s socialist leadership, said the Trump administration wants to resolve differences with Havana peacefully but is doubtful the United States can reach a diplomatic solution with the island’s current government.
“[Trump’s] The choice is always a peaceful, negotiated agreement. This is always our choice. That remains our preference for Cuba,” Rubio said in Miami, before boarding a plane to attend the NATO meeting in Sweden and then visit India.
“To be honest with you, the odds of that happening are not high given who we’re dealing with right now,” he said.
Top Trump aides, including Rubio, CIA chief John Ratcliffe and other top national security officials, have met with Cuban officials in recent months to explore possible improvements in relations. However, the US side left these talks unimpressed, leading to even more sanctions being imposed on the Cuban government last week.
Rubio said that over the years, Cuba has become accustomed to “buying time and waiting for us.” “They won’t be able to wait for us or buy time. We’re very serious, very focused.”
Asked whether the United States would use force in Cuba to change the island’s political system, Rubio reiterated that a diplomatic solution was preferred but noted that “the president always has the option to do whatever is necessary to promote and protect national interests.”
He pushed back on a reporter’s suggestion that this looked like “nation building” and insisted it was about addressing national security risk.
Federal prosecutors on Wednesday unsealed an indictment accusing Castro of ordering the 1996 hit on civilian planes used by Miami-based exiles. Among the charges secretly presented by a grand jury in April was the killing and destruction of an aircraft.
Cuban President Miguel Díaz-Canel condemned the indictment as a political stunt that merely sought to “justify the stupidity of the military attack on Cuba.”
Castro’s indictment led many to believe that the Trump administration was following the same tactical plan it did when it captured then-Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro in a military operation in early January. Maduro, who has been imprisoned in the United States since his capture, faces federal drug trafficking charges and has pleaded not guilty.
The US military announced the arrival of the USS Nimitz aircraft carrier and its accompanying ships in the Caribbean Sea on the same day that the charges against Castro were announced. U.S. Southern Command said the ships will participate in naval exercises with partners in Latin America that begin in March.
Rubio did not discuss how the United States might take action to implement the indictment against Castro, who turns 95 next month.
Trump has threatened military action in Cuba since ousting Maduro and then ordered an energy blockade that blocked fuel shipments to the country. This led to severe power outages, food shortages and economic collapse across the island.
The Trump administration this month also imposed new sanctions on Cuba; the largest of these was directed against Grupo de Administración Empresarial SA (Gaesa), a business conglomerate operated by the Cuban Revolutionary Armed Forces.
On Thursday, Rubio announced that Gaesa’s executive director’s sister, who lives in the United States, had her green card revoked and was arrested and is now in ICE custody.
Rubio said: “Past administrations allowed the families of Cuban military elites, Iranian terrorists, and other reprehensible organizations to enjoy lavish lifestyles financed by stolen blood money in our country, while the people they suppressed at home suffer in increasingly dire conditions. No more.”
Trump has stepped up talk of regime change in Cuba after promising to take over the country “a friendly takeover” if Cuba’s leadership does not open its economy to American investments and expel US enemies.
On Thursday, Rubio said Cuba poses a serious national security threat to America because of its security and intelligence ties with China and Russia and its friendly relations with U.S. enemies in Latin America.
China opposes US sanctions and pressure on Cuba, Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Guo Jiakun said on Thursday.
“China firmly supports Cuba in safeguarding its national sovereignty and national dignity and opposes foreign interference,” Guo said. he added.
