LIMA, Peru – US Secretary of State Marco Rubio will participate next Wednesday in the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) summit to promote a regional position on Venezuela and maintain pressure on the Cuban regime.
According to the State Department, Rubio will represent Washington at the meeting held in Saint Kitts and Nevis, where he will promote the Trump Administration’s priorities, including combating illegal immigration and strengthening hemispheric stability.
According to State Department spokesman Tommy Pigott, quoted by the AFP agencythe secretary will reaffirm the US commitment to working with Caribbean countries “to increase stability and prosperity” in the region.
The summit takes place in a context of tensions after the US military operation on January 3 in Venezuela that culminated in the capture of the Chavista dictator Nicolás Maduro, an event received with caution by several Caribbean governments.
Since then, the US has promoted measures to open the Venezuelan oil sector under the interim presidency of Delcy Rodríguez, along with political concessions such as an amnesty for political prisoners.
Most Caribbean countries have maintained a cautious stance, although Trinidad and Tobago provided logistical support to the operation and backed US attacks on suspected drug traffickers in the region, which have left at least 150 dead.
Rubio exposes the regime in Cuba
In the middle of this month, Marco Rubio offered an interview to Bloomberg within the framework of its participation in the Munich Security Conference. During the exchange, in addition to Washington’s relationship with Europe, the Republican addressed the issue of Cuba.
According to the Cuban-American politician, one of the main obstacles on the Island is the lack of an effective economy.
“The fundamental problem that Cuba has is that it does not have an economy; and the people who are in charge of that country do not know how to improve the daily life of their people without giving up the power of the sectors they control,” Rubio highlighted.
“They want to control everything,” stressed the Secretary of State, ensuring that the regime in Havana refuses to cede any type of power to the citizens. This situation has been a straitjacket for the dictatorship from which they do not want to escape.
In this regard, Rubio pointed out that Cuban leaders have been offered opportunities and “they do not seem capable of understanding or accepting them in any way.” According to the Republican leader, “they would rather be in charge of a dying country than allow it to prosper.”
At one point in the conversation, Rubio refused to confirm whether the United States is willing to push a regime change on the Island, although he endorsed his desire for an opening in the Caribbean country.
“I’m not going to tell you or announce it in an interview, because obviously these things require space and time to do correctly. But I will say this: it is important that the people of Cuba have more freedom, not only political but economic.”
In his words, that is what the Castro tyranny avoids doing, because it fears that Cubans will be able to support themselves and lose control over them.
