“Marco Rubio, stop killing Cubans,” “Let Cuba Live” was the direct message from supporters to the Secretary of State today at a hearing of the U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Committee.
“The sanctions are killing people in Cuba,” emphasized members of the pacifist organization CodePink loudly and clearly as they expressed their support for the island in a packed room.
“Pope Leo said ‘Let Cuba live,’” shouted activist Tighe Barry, who attended the hearing in religious attire. “Repent, repent Marco Rubio” and “God will forgive your sins” could be heard as he was escorted out of the building by law enforcement officers.
While millions of Cubans endure blackouts, fuel and medicine shortages, and the daily consequences of decades of economic oppression, U.S. officials continue to defend policies that make life harder for ordinary people, Medea Benjamin noted on her X account.
“Marco Rubio has never had to live through a blackout that lasts for days, he has never had to wonder if a hospital will have the supplies it needs. Cubans have.” “Let Cuba live,” emphasized the text accompanying the protest video.
During the session, the Secretary of State, in response to questions from legislators, repeated the same slanderous statements that are part of the rhetoric against Cuba. He falsely accused the island of “sponsoring terrorism” and of harboring alleged Chinese and Russian intelligence bases, something Havana has categorically denied.
The Trump administration maintains Cuba on the arbitrary and unilateral list of countries that supposedly sponsor terrorism, despite the fact that the island nation has been a victim for decades of terrorism organized and financed from U.S. territory.
Since Trump’s return to the White House in January 2015, he has tightened the screws on the blockade against Cuba, which has reached unprecedented levels since January 29, when he decreed an energy embargo that deprives the country of oil supplies, while threats of a possible military aggression escalate.
Rubio arrived at the legislative building to address the budget request for the The State Department, at a time when negotiations to end the war with Iran—a conflict that has lasted more than three months—appear to be at a standstill.
During the appearance, similar to the one he will make before the House of Representatives this Tuesday afternoon, the Secretary defended a foreign policy focused exclusively on the national interest of the United States and argued that “for a period of time,” that focus was “lost sight of.”
[ SOURCE: PRENSA LATINA ]
