Marco Rubio: Summit of the Americas Should Exclude Cuba

U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., a member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee and a possible Republican presidential hopeful in 2016, wrote Panama President Juan Carlos Varela on Monday, asking him to cancel an invitation to the Summit of the Americas which Panama hosts in 2015.

The Cuban regimes record of human rights abuses and violations of international law are not matters open for debate, but undeniable and appalling facts, Rubio wrote. Therefore, Cubas participation in the Summit of the Americas in Panama will undermine its credibility and have grave consequences for the regions consensus to promote and defend democratic rule.

I urge you to avoid this outcome, and instead work with the Cuban people to support their demands for a democratic future for their country, Rubio added.

Cuba was not included in the last Summit of the Americas which was hosted by Colombia in 2012. Numerous participants, including the nine-member Bolivarian Alliance for the Peoples of Our America (ALBA) insisted Cuba be included in the next summit.