U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said the current humanitarian situation on the island predated U.S. President Donald Trump’s recent actions in the Caribbean and that the U.S. has “not done anything punitive” against the Cuban government.
In an exclusive interview with Al Jazeera on Monday, which focused primarily on Iran, Rubio insisted that the Havana government is responsible for Cuba’s current predicament.
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“We’ve been trying to explain to anyone who will listen: their system, their economic system, is not working,” Rubio said. “It’s completely dysfunctional. This is not a real system. You can’t change it unless you change the government.”
Rubio noted that the United States has been pressuring Venezuela to halt oil shipments to Cuba following the military abduction of Venezuelan leader Nicolas Maduro in January.
“We have not done anything punitive against the Cuban regime. They claim we have done it, but we have not done it. The only thing that has changed for the Cuban regime is that they no longer have free access to Venezuelan oil,” Rubio said. “They’re not receiving the subsidy anymore. That’s the only thing that has changed.”
The top U.S. diplomat did not mention Trump’s executive order from late January that suggested sanctions against countries that supply Cuba with oil. Washington also maintains a decades-old embargo on the island.
On Sunday, President Trump appeared to soften the US position on fuel shipments, while again threatening military action against Cuba.
President Trump reacted to Russian oil tankers approaching Cuba, saying, “If a country wants to send oil to Cuba right now, whether it’s Russia… and if any other country wants to do that, I have no problem with that.”
He praised the military operation against Venezuela, adding: “Cuba is next by the way, but please pretend I never said that.”
Meanwhile, Rubio pushed back against claims by Cuban officials that power outages on the island accelerated during the pressure campaign.
“The power outages that people are reporting have nothing to do with us,” Rubio told Al Jazeera. “They’ve been experiencing power outages for the last year. Their power grid has equipment from the 1950s that has never been maintained or upgraded due to incompetence, so they’re having power outages.”
The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) announced that the island nation suffered three nationwide power grid collapses in March, leaving “more than 10 million people without electricity for three consecutive months without diesel, fuel oil, gasoline, jet fuel or liquefied petroleum gas.”
Last week, the United Nations announced a $94.1 million plan to continue critical services for the country’s most vulnerable populations.
“If the current situation continues and the country’s fuel reserves are depleted, there is concern that the situation will rapidly deteriorate with the potential for loss of life,” United Nations Coordinator for Cuba Francisco Pichon told reporters.
Venezuela: “Progressing well”
Rubio, the son of Cuban immigrants, has long opposed Cuba’s communist government, currently led by President Miguel Diaz-Canel.
Mr. Rubio’s political career has long been defined by calls for regime change, and some observers argue that he was likely the chief architect of the Trump administration’s military campaign against Venezuela, which has long worked closely with Havana.
Earlier this month, President Trump suggested that Cuba could be “liberated” or “taken”, although he said talks with the government were progressing.
“I think you can do whatever you want with this,” he said at the time.
“Outside invaders will come into conflict with impregnable resistance forces,” Diaz-Canel responded.
In an interview with Al Jazeera on Monday, Rubio also said that the situation in Venezuela since Maduro’s abduction was “progressing very well.”
Maduro’s government has remained largely intact under the leadership of interim President Delcy Rodriguez, who has overseen several reforms sought by the Trump administration, including the release of political prisoners and the opening of the country’s oil industry to foreign companies.
He said U.S. efforts in Venezuela will soon move from “stabilization” to “recovery.”
“And finally, we want to see a complete transition, because for Venezuela to realize its economic potential, it needs a stable, democratic government and its people must be willing to invest in its economy knowing they are protected by law, courts and legitimacy,” Rubio said.
“So we are on track to achieve this,” he said.
