Marco Rubio: Obama's Cuba Policy 'One-Sided in the Castro Regime’s Favor'

Ready to take over the U.S. Senate Western Hemisphere Subcommittee, U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., slammed President Barack Obamas plans to normalize relations with Cuba. On Tuesday, Rubio sent a letter to Obama noting more than 50 political prisoners held by the Castro regime and calling for the White House to end normalization efforts.

To date, no information has been provided about the political prisoners to be released regarding their identities, conditions or whereabouts, even on a confidential basis, to members of Congress, Rubio wrote Obama in the letter. Just yesterday, your own State Department was unable to provide an explanation about the political prisoners in question.

While I believe that the entirety of your new Cuba policy is overwhelmingly one-sided in the Castro regimes favor and based on the flawed premise that giving it more legitimacy and money will result in a freer Cuban people, the least your administration can do now is hold the regime accountable for fully freeing these 53 political prisoners as well as those who have been detained in recent weeks, Rubio added. A failure to do so will further embolden the regime to continue its oppression.

To this end, I urge you to cancel the travel of administration officials to Cuba to further discuss the normalization of diplomatic relations at least until all 53 political prisoners, plus those arrested since your December 17th announcement, have been released and are no longer subjected to repression that often takes the form of house arrests, aggressive surveillance, denied Internet access, forced exile and other forms of harassment, Rubio continued. Almost three weeks after your Cuba announcement, there is absolutely no reason why any of these individuals should be in prison or the targets of repression or for their identities, conditions and whereabouts to remain such closely held secrets.