The publishing house Expressão Popular will launch the book Marco Rubio: An Uncontrollable Mythomaniac, by Cuban investigative journalist Hedelberto López Blanch, next Tuesday (10 p.m.) at 6:00 p.m.
The book presents an X-ray of the personal and political trajectory of the U.S. senator, examining his statements and alliances. The first presentation will be held at the Leonardo da Vinci bookstore in downtown Rio, and the second at the Maré Museum on Thursday (September 24) at 3:00 p.m.
Carmen Diniz, the translator of the Brazilian edition and the presenter of the book at the launch, points out that the book questions the narrative Rubio uses to construct his political identity. The senator often claims that his parents fled Cuba because of the Castro dictatorship, but the book documents that the family arrived in Florida in 1956, still under the government of Fulgencio Batista. “This is one of the first lies he tells everyone, as if it were the truth,” says the coordinator of the Carioca Committee of Solidarity with Cuba.
The publication also revisits the contradictory relationship between Rubio and Donald Trump. Diniz recalls that during the 2016 Republican primaries, Rubio attacked Trump with personal insults, warning that he could “destroy America.” Today, however, the senator acts as a close ally of the former president, a role the translator describes as that of “an accomplice of an imperial and dictatorial government that now occupies the White House.”
Regarding the content of López Blanch’s investigation, Carmen Diniz points out that the book compiles evidence and documents about the senator’s involvement in issues such as drug trafficking and his relationships with powerful groups in Florida. Among the publicly available information on the matter is that Rubio’s brother-in-law, Orlando Cicilia, was arrested in 1987 for participating in a cocaine trafficking operation in Miami. In the early 2000s, Rubio acted as guarantor for his brother-in-law in a real estate transaction.
For Diniz, the work is essential for understanding U.S. interference in Latin American politics, especially in election years. He argues that, given Donald Trump’s attempts to turn the region into Washington’s “backyard” by seeking to revive the Monroe Doctrine, the book becomes a tool for defending Brazilian sovereignty.
Launch of Marco Rubio: An Uncontrollable Liar
Leonardo da Vinci Bookstore:
Date: September 22, at 6:00 PM Address: Av. Rio Branco, 185 – Metro 1 – Centro, Rio de Janeiro
Maré Museum
Date: September 24, at 3:00 PM Address: Av. Guilherme Maxwell, 26 – Maré – Near pedestrian bridge 7 on Av. Brasil
Edited by: Juliana Passos
Taken from Brasil de Fato / Cover photo: AFP.
