U.S. Comes Down Hard On Cuba, Backs Off Venezuela

The U.S. tightened the screws on Cuba but Rubio’s trip to Latin America and envoy Grenell’s trip to Venezuela suggest normalization with Maduro

Photo by Ricardo IV Tamayo on Unsplash

On Friday, Secretary of State Marco Rubio issued a statement declaring that the United States will be shifting focus on Cuba. The emphasis under Trump has moved to a more authoritarian and oppressive policy agenda not seen in decades. Meanwhile, it appears the U.S. is backing off on Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro and normalizing relations with Venezuela.

“The President acted on his first day in office to keep Cuba on the SST [State Sponsor of Terrorism] list, where it belongs,” said Rubio. “The Cuban regime has long supported acts of international terrorism. We call for the regime to end its support for terrorism, and to stop providing food, housing, and medical care to foreign murderers, bombmakers, and hijackers, while Cubans go hungry and lack access to basic medicine.”

Rubio has long promoted the idea that Cuba is a state sponsor of terrorism. However, the “terrorism” label in the context of Cuba is a loose translation and highlights precisely why journalists use quotes when using the word. Rubio’s definition and justification are highly politicized based on several things: propaganda about Cuba being an enemy of the U.S. (it is not) and what many argue is self-hatred largely based on racism which is what led to the white flight out of Cuba just after the revolution and the desegregation of the island in 1959.

Rubio’s assertions disregard the decades of oppression resulting from broad sanctions and an economic blockade that prevents Cuba from accessing world markets and bank loans. His and many others’ views are largely driven not by the oppression of the Cuban government, but by many narratives that paint Cuba as a uniparty socialist economic system not unlike the uniparty capitalist system in the United States. It’s worth noting that Cuba has many different political ideologies in its legislative branches just like the U.S., it’s simply a different economic system.

“On January 31, I approved the re-creation of the Cuba Restricted List, which prohibits certain transactions with companies under the control of, or acting for or on behalf of, the repressive Cuban military, intelligence, or security services or personnel,” Rubio continued. The State Department is re-issuing the Cuba Restricted List to deny resources to the very branches of the Cuban regime that directly oppress and surveil the Cuban people while controlling large swaths of the country’s economy. In addition to restoring the entities that were on the list until the final week of the previous administration, we are adding Orbit, S.A., a remittance-processing company operating for or on behalf of the Cuban military.”

Rubio, whose family fled Cuba under the dictatorship of U.S.-installed president Fulgencio Batista, would like people to believe Cuba was better off under the corrupt capitalist system before Castro. People don’t have to be Castro supporters to know that Cuba’s history is one of corruption largely forced on it by the United States after the island’s liberation from Spain when it was a mostly Black slave state.

Like Rubio, many Cubans in the U.S. despise that Cubans on the island largely support their government and for that, they choose to support making 11 million Cubans suffer through starvation. They do this to force the island to bow to the U.S.’s demands. This form of collective punishment is illegal under international law and is also why every country in the United Nations, except for two, the U.S. and Israel, vote to lift the sanctions every year.

The U.S. vetoes the vote each time.

“The State Department promotes accountability for the Cuban regime for oppressing its people and rejects Cuba’s malign interference across the Americas and throughout the world,” said Rubio. “We support the Cuban people’s human rights and fundamental freedoms and demand the release of all unjustly detained political prisoners. Our Embassy in Havana is meeting with families of those unjustly detained, as well as dissidents, so that they know the United States wholeheartedly supports them. We are steadfast in our commitment to the Cuban people and promote accountability for the Cuban regime’s actions.”

While the U.S. takes the stance that Cuba oppresses its people, it’s a hard claim to justify when healthcare, housing, and education are guaranteed human rights on the island. The biggest problem Cuba faces isn’t wholly on its leadership, which isn’t perfect by any stretch of the imagination, it’s the United States too. Now, as the U.S. takes this stance on Cuba, it’s normalizing relations with Venezuela showing yet another example of not holding itself to its own standards.

Normalization with Venezuela

On Friday, envoy Richard Grenell met with Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro to discuss two main issues: ensuring deported Venezuelans are sent back to Venezuela and that U.S. citizens detained in the country be returned home. When asked if the U.S. recognized Maduro as Venezuela’s legitimate leader, White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said, "Absolutely not."

However, the administration's actions paint a different picture.

On Saturday, Secretary of State Marco Rubio started a tour of several Latin American countries including Panama, El Salvador, Costa Rica, Guatemala, and the Dominican Republic to advance the U.S. foreign policy agenda under President Donald Trump. According to a statement released on Friday, Rubio’s tour will last from February 1st through the 6th. Rubio did not mention Venezuela or envoy Richard Grenell’s meeting with the Venezuelan President.

“Secretary of State Marco Rubio will travel to Panama, El Salvador, Costa Rica, Guatemala, and the Dominican Republic from February 1-6 to advance President Trump’s America First foreign policy,” reads the statement from department spokesperson Tammy Bruce. “Secretary Rubio’s engagements with senior officials and business leaders will promote regional cooperation on our core, shared interests: stopping illegal and large-scale migration, fighting the scourge of transnational criminal organizations and drug traffickers, countering China, and deepening economic partnerships to enhance prosperity in our hemisphere.”

However, many on social media have expressed disappointment after Edmundo Gonzalez, who asserts he is Venezuela’s rightful president, asked the Trump administration not to negotiate with Maduro. Trump apparently ignored Gonzalez’s plea and went ahead with the meeting anyway. In a call with reporters on Friday, U.S. Special Envoy for Latin America Mauricio Claver-Carone also expressed that Grenell’s meeting was not normalization with Venezuela.

“That doesn’t change President Trump and – President Trump’s priorities, which he himself has said in regards to Venezuela and what he would like to see,” said Claver-Carone. “It doesn’t change the Secretary’s position, obviously, in regards to Venezuela and the priorities of the United States in that regards, and obviously the recognition of elections, the recognition of democracy and democratic change in Venezuela. It focuses on two very specific issues: that we expect that Venezuelan criminals and gangs will be returned, as they are to every country in the world, without conditions; and two, that American hostages need to be released immediately, unequivocally. This is not a quid pro quo. It is not a negotiation in exchange for anything.”

Rubio’s silence about Venezuela has not gone unnoticed.

In an interview with Megyn Kelly on Thursday, Rubio did not mention his trip, Grenell’s meeting with Nicolas Maduro, or Venezuela. However, Colombia was mentioned 16 times as expected after the recent debacle between Trump and Colombian Presiden Gustavo Petro that resulted in the latter getting what he wanted: the humane treatment of Colombian deportees and for them to be flown home on Colombian planes.

On Friday, chair of the House Foreign Relations Subcommittee on Western Hemisphere Affairs Rep. María Elvira Salazar (R-FL) expressed frustration on X (formerly Twitter) over the meeting after news broke of Chevron lobbying Congress to keep its license to export Venezuelan oil.

“Venezuelan democracy is not worth selling for the price of oil,” said Salazar. “If we don’t push for Maduro and Diosdado to leave power, it will come back to haunt us.”

Most of the commentary coming out of the White House seems to be bloviating and threatening “consequences” if Venezuela or any other Latin American country doesn’t abide by U.S. demands. Part of Rubio’s trip to El Salvador is an attempt to negotiate with President Nayib Bukele about sending migrants from other countries there.

It’s unclear if such threats were made to Bukele.

“So again, two very specific issues, and all I would do on this call is urge the Maduro government, the Maduro regime in Venezuela, to heed to Special Envoy Ric Grenell’s message and to his demands and what he puts on the table, because ultimately there will be consequences otherwise,” said Claver-Carone.

While Rubio penned an op-ed for the Wall Street Journal outlining his foreign policy agenda saying the U.S. can not continue to neglect neighboring countries in the Western Hemisphere and that the U.S. should reward allies in the region, it remains to be seen what making such one-sided demands followed by threats of consequences will accomplish. It could backfire and further alienate the United States in the region opening the door for China to replace it.

“Some countries are cooperating with us enthusiastically – others less so,” wrote Rubio. “The former will be rewarded. As for the latter, Mr. Trump has already shown that he is more than willing to use America’s considerable leverage to protect our interests. Just ask Colombia’s President Gustavo Petro.”

The results of Rubio’s tour are yet to be determined. Grenll’s visit to Venezuela yielded some results as Maduro has reportedly agreed to begin accepting deported Venezuelans from the U.S. and has released six U.S. citizens who were incarcerated – none of which the U.S. declared to be wrongfully detained by the United States. At least three of the six who were released are among many U.S. citizens who were arrested following Venezuela’s election.

The men were taken into custody as part of U.S. military weapons seizures meant to be used to help overthrow the Venezuelan government. In part of a deal with Venezuela, the U.S. allowed the sanctions waivers for Chevron to continue buying oil from Venezuela, as reported by Latin American media outlets and confirmed by the Senior Associate at the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), Jose Ignacio Hernández on X.

---

I’m a freelance journalist. Find my work at Latino Rebels, Unicorn Riot, The Antagonist Magazine, and more. I’m also on TikTok, Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, Mastodon, and Threads. To support my work, become a paid subscriber or donate via Venmo, PayPal, or CashApp.