From his perch as chairman of the U.S. Senate Western Hemisphere Subcommittee, U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., a candidate for the Republican presidential nomination and an opponent of normalizing relations with the Castro regime, introduced the “Cuban Military Transparency Act” on Wednesday.
Rubio’s bill would ensure normalization does not include financial dealings with the Cuban Ministry of the Revolutionary Armed Forces, its Ministry of the Interior or any of their offshoots. The legislation would also make the U.S. Department of Justice work with Interpol to arrest American fugitives hiding out in Cuba and would ensure the White House reports to Congress on efforts to recover property seized by the Castro regime.
The bill has won the support of U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, who is also running for the Republican presidential nomination, U.S. Sen. Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, and U.S. Sen. Bob Menendez, D-N.J., one of the leading Democrats on international issues in the chamber.
Rubio offered his reasons on Wednesday for why the bill was needed.
“It is not in the interest of the United States or the people of Cuba for the U.S. to become a financier of the Castro regime’s brutality,” Rubio said. “The Cuban Military Transparency Act would prevent U.S. dollars from getting into the hands of the Cuban military and would demand accountability from the Obama administration regarding fugitives of American justice in Cuba, the return of stolen and uncompensated property and the role of the Ministry of the Revolutionary Armed Forces and the Ministry of the Interior in Cuba.”
“U.S. policy should be guided by one, single principle – supporting the Cuban people’s aspirations for a democratic future,” Menendez said. “With the Cuban government and armed forces controlling more than 80 percent of the country’s economy, current efforts to expand commerce and travel to Cuba only enrich the Castros’ military monopolies. The Cuban military uses these funds to violate human rights and jail its opponents. This common-sense legislation aims to ensure the American public is not a blind accomplice to the Castro regime’s repression.”
“The Obama administration has already sent terrible signals to Fidel and Raul Castro by relaxing economic sanctions on Cuba and removing their regime from the State Sponsors of Terrorism list,” Cruz said. “It is now beholden on Congress to intervene and ensure that this misguided policy does not result in our facilitating the Castros’ more than 50 years of aggressive hostility towards the United States and our allies. I commend Sen. Rubio for his work on the Cuban Military Transparency Act, and I am proud to co-sponsor this legislation that will prevent America from enabling Cuba’s odious security apparatus. Congress should send a clear directive to the president: We will stand with the Cuban people and promote freedom and prosperity, but we will not assist the Communist regime that has oppressed them for so long.”
Reach Kevin Derby at kderby@sunshinestatenews.com or follow him on Twitter: @KevinDerbySSN
