Trump’s candidate reviews the blacklist… and opposes Biden’s decision
The administration of outgoing Democratic President Joe Biden announced on Tuesday that it had removed Cuba from the US blacklist as part of an agreement with Havana to release more than 550 imprisoned demonstrators on the island.
Before the Senate, Rubio (53 years old), the son of Cuban immigrants who strongly opposed the communist revolution led by Fidel Castro in 1959, said that the Trump administration would not be bound by the actions of the Biden government.
“I have no doubt that they (the Cubans) meet the criteria necessary to be classified as a state sponsor of terrorism,” the Florida senator said.
But Rubio did not explicitly say that he would work to cancel the Biden administration’s decision.
Trump took a step similar to Biden’s step a few days before leaving the White House in 2021, when he ordered Cuba to be re-listed on the blacklist.
On Wednesday, Rubio said that Cuba has publicly maintained “friendly” relations with organizations that Washington considers terrorist, such as Hamas and Hezbollah.
He continued: “We also know that the Cuban regime, for example, hosts spy bases for not one country, but two countries within its territory, 90 miles (144 kilometers) from the coast of the United States,” without naming these two countries.
There are currently only 3 other countries on the US blacklist: Iran, Syria, and North Korea.
Regarding North Korea, Rubio said that the leader of this nuclear-armed country is a “dictator,” stressing that the next Republican administration will do everything in its power to avoid the outbreak of a crisis between Washington and Pyongyang.
“You have a dictator who is about 40 years old and has to find a way to retain power for the rest of his life,” the incoming foreign minister said.
He added that Kim “sees nuclear weapons as an insurance policy for staying in power, and they are so important to him that no amount of sanctions prevented him from developing this nuclear capability.”
He continued: “What can we do to prevent a crisis without encouraging other countries to try to develop their own nuclear weapons programs?” This is the solution we want to achieve.” (Sky News)