President Barack Obama announced on Wednesday the full normalization of relations with Cuba including opening an embassy in Havana on July 20. "This is a historic step forward in our efforts to normalize relations with the Cuban government and people and begin a new chapter with our neighbors in the Americas,” Obama said.
At a White House announcement on Wednesday, Obama said U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry would be in Havana to launch the new embassy.
“President Raul Castro and I directed our teams to negotiate the re-establishment of embassies,” Obama said. “Since then our State Department has worked hard with our Cuban counterparts to achieve that goal and later this summer Sec. Kerry will travel to Havana formally to proudly raise the American flag over our embassy once more.”
The news did not sit well with Republican presidential hopeful U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., a member of the Foreign Affairs Committee, who criticized the decision on Wednesday. Rubio, the chairman of the Western Hemisphere Subcommittee, has said he will attempt to block efforts to name an ambassador to Cuba.
“Throughout this entire negotiation, as the Castro regime has stepped up its repression of the Cuban people, the Obama administration has continued to look the other way and offer concession after concession,” Rubio said on Wednesday. “The administration's reported plan to restore diplomatic relations is one such prized concession to the Castro regime. It remains unclear what, if anything, has been achieved since the [president's] December 17th announcement in terms of securing the return of U.S. fugitives being harbored in Cuba, settling outstanding legal claims to U.S. citizens for properties confiscated by the regime, and in obtaining the unequivocal right of our diplomats to travel freely throughout Cuba and meet with any dissidents, and most importantly, securing greater political freedoms for the Cuban people. I intend to oppose the confirmation of an ambassador to Cuba until these issues are addressed. It is time for our unilateral concessions to this odious regime to end.”
Rubio was joined by other Republicans in the Florida delegation who opposed the decision.
"By pressing ahead with plans to open a U.S. embassy in Havana and a Cuban embassy in Washington, President Obama continues his failed policy of appeasing brutal dictators that threaten U.S. interests,” said U.S. Rep. Mario Diaz-Balart, R-Fla., on Wednesday. “It is an utter disgrace that the administration has removed human rights and America's security from the president's foreign policy agenda. The Castro regime has increased its oppression of human rights and pro-democracy activists in the wake of President Obama's ceaseless overtures. Since the president's December 17, 2014, announcement, there have been well over 2,000 political arrests in Cuba. For the past 12 consecutive Sundays, more than 70 activists have been arrested, including the courageous Ladies in White who protest on their way to mass. In February of this year, the Cuban dictatorship was caught smuggling weapons through Colombian territory, which occurred after severe condemnation of Cuba's illegal weapons smuggling to North Korea from a U.N. panel of experts in March 2014. In addition, several Cuban diplomat-spies have been expelled from the U.S. for their espionage activities.
“If a Cuban embassy opens in Washington, it will not represent the Cuban people,” Diaz-Balart insisted. “It will represent the Cuban intelligence services that perpetuate human rights abuses against the Cuban people. It will serve the interests of the military generals that illegally smuggle weapons to our adversaries. And, most directly, it will serve the dictators that will continue to impoverish and oppress the Cuban people. The Cuban people have not chosen the Castros as their leaders; Instead, Cuba's true leadership includes those who are in prison, and who have lost their livelihoods, ration cards, housing, and health, simply for demanding human rights. The Cuban regime does not represent them. It is their enemy. For these reasons, the House Subcommittee for State, Foreign Operations and Related Programs Appropriations denied funding for a U.S. embassy in Havana, and a Cuban embassy and consulates in the U.S. in its FY 2016 bill.
"Purportedly to help the Cuban people achieve ‘independence from Cuban authorities,’ President Obama continues to appease their oppressors,” Diaz-Balart added. “The Cuban people are calling out for solidarity with their struggle for freedom, not collaboration with those that imprison them. If only we had a president that knew the difference.”
On the other side of the aisle, U.S. Rep. Kathy Castor, D-Fla., cheered the news.
“Today we turn the page on 50 years of acrimony between our two countries with the intent to empower the Cuban people and support the emergence of a democratic, prosperous and stable Cuba," Castor said on Wednesday. “An embassy in Havana will enable us to effectively promote American interests, protect and assist American citizens traveling to Cuba, and increase engagement with the Cuban people. An embassy is not a gift to a foreign country, but represents a sign that two countries are committed to deepening bilateral relations.
“Since the birth of our country, Americans have always believed engagement was best for our nation and improving our place in the world,” Castor added. “Two years after the end of the American Revolution – the war fought for the independence of our country from England and the tyrant George III with thousands of Americans slain – diplomatic relations were established by the founders with England.
"Formal diplomatic ties are especially important to Florida families, and state policymakers should follow suit to boost student, cultural, religious and business exchanges,” Castor said in closing. “I have had discussions with U.S. State Department and Cuban officials regarding a consulate in Tampa and I am hopeful such discussions will bear fruit.”
Reach Kevin Derby at kderby@sunshinestatenews.com or follow him on Twitter: @KevinDerbySSN
