Unless Florida Sen. Marco Rubio sees “substantive progress” from the Cuba government on certain issues, the Republican will do what he can to block President Obama from naming an ambassador to Havana.
Rubio, who is running for president, named four areas where he wants to see the island nation make progress: political and human rights reforms, the return of U.S. fugitives in Cuba, resolving outstanding property claims by U.S. citizens against the Cuban government, and the lifting of restrictions on U.S. diplomats when they are in Cuba.
“I intend to work with my colleagues to block the administration’s efforts to pursue diplomatic relations with Cuba and name an ambassador to Havana until substantive progress is made on these important issues,” Rubio wrote in a letter to Secretary of State John Kerry on Monday.
Rubio, a Cuban American, has been one of the loudest critics of the Obama administration’s attempts to normalize diplomatic relations with Cuba. His letter comes just days after the administration removed Cuba from the State Department’s list of state sponsors of terrorism. The country has been on that list since 1982.
By pushing Cuba to make progress on these four areas, Rubio believes “the U.S. can leverage the prospect of improved bilateral relations to obtain tangible benefits for both the American and Cuban peoples.”
Alone, Rubio would be unable to block whomever Obama nominates, though procedural tactics would allow him to delay the confirmation process. If Rubio were able to gather enough support from his fellow senators when the time comes, he would be able to block a nominee from being confirmed.
