MIAMI, United States. — Cuban-American politicians Marco Rubio and María Elvira Salazar criticized the visit to Washington this week of a regime delegation that includes officials from the Border Guard Troops, an organization involved in the sinking from a boat north of the province of Artemisa on October 28, 2022.
Rubio, a Republican senator for the state of Florida, pointed out that it is “a delegation of spies possibly for crimes against Cubans on the island.
“Now they are going to invite them to come to the United States, to spy here, to do harm here, to do propaganda here, and to return to Cuba to do more propaganda themselves,” Rubio said in a brief message posted on social media.
It’s embarrassing that the Admin. Biden allows agents of the Border Guard of the Cuban regime and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to come to the US to tour port facilities and have meetings with the US Coast Guard!https://t.co/Qc2AjilbPX
– Senator Marco Rubio (@SenMarcoRubio) February 27, 2023
For the legislator, the visit of the Cuban delegation to Washington is yet another example of how the Biden administration “is always accommodating the Cuban regime.
María Elvira Salazar, for her part, said she was dismayed by the visit of the Cuban border guards to the United States.
“What will they do at a Coast Guard base and in a port? It’s like opening the door of your house to confessed thieves. The Border Guard Troops also repressed. Who sank the Bahía Honda boat? What a shame!” said the congresswoman in her twitter account.
I am dismayed with the visit of Cuban Border Guards to the US. What will they do at a Coast Guard base and in a port? It’s like opening the door of your house to confessed thieves.
The Border Guard Troops also repressed. Who sank the Bahía Honda boat?
What a shame!
— Maria Elvira Salazar ?? (@MaElviraSalazar) February 25, 2023
In response to the reactions of politicians, a senior State Department official told the digital portal CyberCuba that the visit of the Antillean delegation does not represent any danger to US interests.
“This coordination is not new, nor does it represent a change in US policy. The United States Coast Guard and the Cuban Border Guard Troops have maintained a collaborative relationship for decades focused above all on maritime security,” the source highlighted.