Cuban diplomat: Rubio risking Trump peace prospects with 'personal' agenda

Cuba’s foreign minister on Tuesday accused Secretary of State Marco Rubio of pursuing a “personal and corrupt agenda” that he said runs counter to President Trump’s stated peace goals in Latin America.

In a sit-down interview with The Associated Press, Foreign Minister Bruno Rodríguez Parrilla said Rubio, whose parents are Cuban immigrants, has made it his mission to carry out a “maximum pressure” campaign against the island nation.

“The current secretary of state was not born in Cuba, has never been to Cuba, and knows nothing about Cuba,” Rodríguez told the AP.

“But there is a very personal and corrupt agenda that he is carrying out, which seems to be sacrificing the national interests of the U.S. in order to advance this very extremist approach,” he added.

The Trump administration has taken several aggressive actions against Cuba since taking office. Trump redesignated Cuba a state sponsor of terrorism, days after former President Biden had lifted that designation at the end of his term. Trump placed new restrictions on visitors from Cuba, and he revoked legal protective status that shielded approximately 300,000 Cubans in the U.S. from deportation. The administration also announced new visa restrictions.

But Rodríguez, who has been Cuba’s top diplomat since 2009, said he doesn’t blame the president for these actions. He blames the State Department.

Trump “portrays himself as an advocate of peace,” Rodríguez said, but Rubio “promotes the use of force or the threat to use force as an everyday, customary tool.”

The Hill has reached out to the White House and State Department for a response.

In the past, Rubio and U.S. officials have defended the tough posture against Cuba.

“The U.S. will continue to stand for the human rights and fundamental freedoms of the people of Cuba, and make clear no illegitimate, dictatorial regimes are welcome in our hemisphere,” the secretary said in July.

The Associated Press contributed.