Francisco Delgado Rodríguez / CubaSí
The phrase “lying is free when you go to the US Congress” perhaps best summarizes, in the words of Cuban Deputy Foreign Minister Cossio, what happened these past few days in both Houses of the US Congress, during Mr. Rubio’s participation in his capacity as Secretary of State. And it should be added that these interventions were essentially a faithful display of his antiquated, that is to say, outdated and degraded thinking.
Indeed, not all politicians have the capacity to outdo themselves in terms of treachery and a spirit of revenge and confrontation. Such is the case of Mr. Rubio, who must be granted the dubious distinction of lying without batting an eye, and yet aspiring to preside over his country, the USA; such is the reality of politics there, where they elect a president without principles, a criminal, like Trump, and reasonably aspire to the same office to a fellow like Mr. Rubio, the perfect heartless individual.
The previous appearance before these chambers of Congress by the now former Senator Rubio was in January of this year, always under the regulations that require him to be accountable to Congress, specifically to the Foreign Relations Committee, the body that approves the funds for his State Department to operate.
So, it should have been a moment for criticism and self-criticism, but in no case was the latter—self-criticism—undertaken by Secretary Rubio. Rather, the meeting with the legislators became a kind of platform where the guest, that is, Mr. Rubio, held forth on the government’s foreign policy positions, more precisely to justify the excesses committed in any obscure corner of the world, to paraphrase the alcoholic former president, George W. Bush.
Thus, on this occasion, Mr. Rubio dedicated a portion of his busy time to attacking Cuba. It’s not even possible to highlight anything that isn’t already known, because the Secretary reiterated his usual fallacies about the situation on the island, always seeking to justify the cruel blockade, the threat of aggression, and, in general, the psychological warfare that the current Trump administration is waging against Cuba.
But as the saying goes, silence implies consent, so it’s worth addressing some of Mr. Rubio’s lies, as presented in the congressional hearings. To begin with, in the Senate, the Trump-aligned Secretary of State again attacked GAESA, one of the institutions that make up Cuba’s economic structure. The matter has been explained at length; the Cuban government itself issued a statement on June 2nd, clarifying the situation.
The more one examines the GAESA issue, the more evident the tactic employed by the empire becomes to legitimize its cruel aggression against Cuba. There’s a less visible aspect to the problem, but perhaps the most important one in Rubio’s narrative.
That is to say, the enemy is supposedly a military entity; the villains in this fantasy are the Cuban military, who are also often accused of repression, torture, and so on, as well as “hoarding wealth.” Therefore, in the event of aggression, they would be “legitimate military targets.” They are not civilians; they are the ones the US Marines can massacre with impunity, as the laws of war dictate.
In short, Mr. Rubio believes he has found the “perfect villain”; and through this, he intends to demonstrate that a military invasion of Cuba is also legitimate, even logical, because, from the perspective constructed by the empire, it would eradicate all the evils of communism in Cuba. And they are betting that the entire US political establishment, including senators and many politicians who currently reject this military option, will end up supporting it.
Additionally, it must be emphasized that every country has the right to organize its business sector as it sees fit, sovereignly, and even if it were true—which it isn’t—that some of its institutions concentrated some kind of greater control, the country with the least moral authority to criticize that is precisely the US, where economic power is hyper, super, mega monopolized.
Furthermore, if GAESA is a military institution, other questions arise: Does the Pentagon make its internal audits public? Or worse, is the Pentagon audited transparently by any authority? Mr. Rubio should look inward, because the rampant corruption of the Trump family, awarding themselves federally funded military projects, is already breaking the clock on corruption, as Representative Sydney Kamlager-Dove aptly stated a few days later in the House of Representatives hearing, telling the Secretary directly that “this is the most corrupt administration in US history.”
Mr. Rubio unsuccessfully attempted to explain another absurdity: Cuba’s presence on the list of countries that tolerate terrorism, which, as is well known, is one of the tricks invented by US leaders to apply the extraterritoriality of their multidimensional aggression against Cuba.
Well, it turns out that one of the most awkward and absurd moments of the day was when the issue was raised by Senator Chris Van Hollen (Democrat, Maryland), who asked if there was any evidence of such tolerance for terrorism. Mr. Rubio’s only response was to allude to a past—hence the term “outdated thinking”—regarding Cuba’s relationship with guerrilla organizations, confusing terrorism with revolutionary struggle.
That debate, that is, the difference between a guerrilla movement and terrorism, is irrelevant now. What’s important is that the organizations mentioned by Mr. Rubio either don’t exist, like the FARC, or there are no links with others, something that the Colombian government itself can confirm. So, even from the imperialist perspective, if Cuba sponsored or tolerated “terrorism” in the past, it doesn’t now. And that much was clear; there’s no evidence that the situation has changed since the previous Biden administration removed Cuba from that spurious list some 15 months ago.
Another issue that caught Mr. Rubio off guard was the situation regarding the war in Iran. This also has significant communication value because this conflict and the defeat for the US are often seen as solely the work of President Trump; but Mr. Rubio’s leading role, as the top official on international affairs in this administration, shouldn’t be overlooked. He is at the forefront of those responsible, before his people and before history, for what ultimately happens with Iran.
Senator Hollen began by reminding Mr. Rubio that this was his first official appearance before the Senate since the outbreak of the aggression against the Persians. Well, Hollen took it upon himself to question the Trump administration’s Secretary of State about dragging the country into this adventure, the attack on Iran, giving him the opportunity to label the White House’s foreign policy as stupid and reckless. Therefore, the label of stupid also applies to Mr. Rubio, for the reasons already explained.
Hollen himself explained his anger based on the many and evident damages that this “useless and costly” conflict, he says, is causing to the quality of life of the American people: inflation, gasoline prices, squandering of public funds, as well as what he called the encouragement of Israeli regional aggression. “And all for what?” the distressed senator asked, insisting on the barrage of lies with which the matter has been handled. At one point, Hollen stated: “Let’s face it, Mr. Secretary, Trump’s foreign policy has become a total disaster,” a scathing statement that couldn’t have been more fitting.
Mr. Rubio didn’t have enough time, not to address anything constructive, or at least in a more relaxed manner, but instead he emphasized other conflicts that, strictly speaking, are not the concern of the US, such as the situation in Colombia.
And this seems logical because the evidence has already been presented of what appears to be a monumental fraud orchestrated by the Colombian far right, with US support, by candidate Espriella, who has been “given” no fewer than 600,000 votes. Is the democratic process in Colombia of interest to them? Does Washington care about the sovereign will of the Colombian people? The answers are obvious.
Another problem addressed by Mr. Rubio concerns the drones used by drug cartels in Mexico; he speculated that the use of these more sophisticated weapons constitutes a threat to the US, which is reminiscent of the story published in Axios about Cuban drones. And it’s curious that the senators didn’t ask where almost 70% of the weapons used by these cartels come from, since they import them from the US. Mr. Rubio should clarify the origin of the mafia’s drones; perhaps they even come from some of the factories whose major shareholders include President Trump’s sons. A task for the FBI.
Mr. Rubio’s statements deserve special and distinct attention, particularly regarding the cases of Colombia and Mexico. While both share a similar pattern of ideological undertones, the key issue is that the governments of both countries are viewed by the State Department as a challenge to the Donroe Doctrine. Mr. Rubio is clear on this point: they cannot tolerate such a thing. If, for instance, Mexico is placed on the list of unusual threats, like Cuba, then it too should be invaded. Washington already has its “perfect villain” there: the drug cartels, which thrive due to the extremely high drug consumption in Mr. Rubio’s homeland.
Similar topics were addressed during Mr. Rubio’s questioning in the House of Representatives. There is great concern about the course of the lost war in Iran, to the point that the House, by majority vote, approved a motion in another session that same day to prevent Trump from continuing it. There was even a heated confrontation with Mr. Rubio regarding the killing of children in Gaza by Zionism, supported by the Secretary; and also regarding the rampant corruption of the Trumps, as already mentioned.
Not content with these absurdities, Mr. Rubio, who just a week ago was meeting with his NATO counterparts in Sweden, reiterated his interest in seizing the island of Greenland—unbelievable. And, as expected, the Representatives confronted the Secretary about President Trump’s frequent naps, ironically always when Rubio was speaking, bringing to a close what had essentially become a circus. The Secretary was then ridiculed for his oversized shoes—the very ones the President, for reasons unknown, had given Mr. Rubio and forced him to wear. This incident went viral, as is typical when such trivial matters are discussed.
Hours after the drubbing Mr. Rubio received in both Houses, he resorted to what is undoubtedly his only remaining strong suit, the one in which he feels most qualified (or perhaps demerited), which is ultimately his primary focus: intensifying the blockade and pressure against Cuba. He handed out sanctions against the Cuban president and his family, against other members of the Cuban government, and even against the Committees for the Defense of the Revolution—in other words, he sanctioned millions of Cubans with a click, something that has always been the case for over 60 years, only now he gave it a formal veneer. Well, the more “perfect villains,” the better, seems to be Mr. Rubio’s conclusion.
Other federal government secretaries had to parade before Congress, all of them, in one way or another, vilified, because, strictly speaking, the task of defending the indefensible, as is the Trump administration, requires not only loyalty but also talent, something that is, as they say, lacking in this government.
Denounce Mr. Rubio’s lies remains a priority for anyone with a shred of ethics; it doesn’t even require much. It’s not just his aggression against Cuba; it’s Rubio against Our America, as Lula, the Brazilian president, aptly warned.
In short, right now, Mr. Rubio is the visible, institutional face of US imperialism, which, as we know, is the main enemy. And when this becomes clear—that is, when the culprit can be identified by name—things become much easier for taking retaliatory measures, for the sake of history, because there are cases where neither forgiveness nor forgetting is possible, and no one holds office forever. Perhaps these principles should be explained to the US Secretary of State.
[ SOURCE: www.cubainformacion.tv ]
