Marco Rubio will be the next U.S. Secretary of State, President-elect Donald Trump confirmed on Wednesday. During his political career, the Florida Senator has been known hardline approach toward countries like China, Iran, Venezuela, Russia and, most notably, Cuba, the country were both his parents emigrated from.
With his appointment, Rubio joins a list of prominent Cuban-American Republicans who are now in position to take on significant roles in U.S. foreign policy under the incoming Trump administration, with a likely focus on the Caribbean island and the rest of Latin America. U.S. Representative Mario Diaz-Balart is also rumored to be in line to become the next lead the House Foreign Affairs Committee, and former U.S. Ambassador to the Organization of American States Carlos Trujillo is expected to be nominated for a key role in Latin American affairs.
Together, these three figures have consistently advocated for strict policies targeting the Cuban government, which has faced increased economic hardship from U.S. sanctions, as The Miami Herald reports. During the Obama administration's efforts to restore diplomatic relations with Havana, Rubio staunchly opposed engagement policies, viewing them as concessions to a repressive regime:
"The President's decision to reward the Castro regime and begin the path toward the normalization of relations with Cuba is inexplicable," Rubio said at the time. "Cuba, like Syria, Iran, and Sudan, remains a state sponsor of terrorism.... Appeasing the Castro brothers will only cause other tyrants from Caracas to Tehran to Pyongyang to see that they can take advantage of President Obama's naiveté during his final two years in office. As a result, America will be less safe."
Others in Trump's orbit share Rubio's approach. Mauricio Claver-Carone, a Cuban-American architect of Trump's Latin America policies, is advising Trump's transition team. Claver-Carone's focus is expected to include modernizing sanctions on Cuba. If the Cuban government fails to cooperate with Trump's promised mass deportations of undocumented immigrants or is seen propping up Maduro in Venezuela it could open itself to more sanctions, sources told the Herald.
As he told The Herald:
"There are no surprises; we know what President Trump's priorities will be: immigration and protecting the border; confront tyrannies and organized crime in the region and protect American influence in our hemisphere"
For the Cuban government, Trump's victory and Rubio's nomination come at an extremely difficult moment. Besides going through the most severe economic crisis in decades, the island has been rattled by a recent hurricane and back-to-back earthquakes which have left its already precarious infrastructure in shambles.
"Rubio speaks Spanish and will have the capacity, energy, and desire to sit one-on-one with the heads of state and heads of government of the countries in the Americas to make his case about Cuba and Venezuela," said president of the U.S.-Cuba Trade and Economic Council John Kavulich. "For Cuba, this is the worst of all nightmares – and one that could last four years."
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