Rubio Professes “Support” for the Cuban People

Secretary of State Marco Rubio sent a video message to the Cuban people commemorating the fourth anniversary of the July 11, 2021 anti-government protests in which he claimed Cubans had his “support.”

In practice, Rubio has overseen the U.S. government's "starve them out" strategy that takes food off Cubans' plates, medicine off pharmacy shelves, and electricity from people's homes, the main issues that took people to protest in 2021 and that remain a reality for the island.

To see how Rubio cut a deal with Trump to ramp up sanctions on Cuba during Trump's first term, watch the first episode of our award-winning series The War on Cuba.

Rubio went on to say that he knows “for many it is easier to leave the country than staying there and fighting for the future of a free and sovereign Cuba.”

In the comment section of Rubio’s message on Instagram, several people called Rubio out for being hypocritical.

But it's precisely the policies advanced by Rubio that have fueled the biggest emigration wave in Cuban history. Rubio has also defended Trump’s anti-immigration policies that have placed many thousands of Cubans at risk of deportation.