US Secretary of State Marco Rubio's usual function in the US government is to try to settle things down after yet another wild outburst from his boss, Donald Trump, who, as we know, has anger management and impulse control issues (among many other issues).
On one brief, though, Rubio is probably even more hawkish than Trump, and that issue is Cuba. After all, there is no good reason why Trump should care that much about Cuba: it has little in the way of economic or strategic importance, which is what usually exercises Trump's twisted mind. He appears to be guided by Rubio on this one.
Because Rubio DOES have skin in that game, or at least he seems to think he does. Rubio was actually born and raised in Florida, but his parents were Cuban, and he seems to share the acute sense of grievance that so many Cuban-Americans feel. Despite living the good life in the Sunshine State, many ex-Cubans and their descendents are desperate for retribution against the Castros for pushing them out, as they see it, from their island paradise.
These are not working class Cubans (which the Castro revolution actually helped raise up from penury and almost medieval serfdom under the pre-revolution Washington-backed dictatorship of Fulgencio Batista); these are the old ruling classes. Pre-revolutionary Cuba was not a pleasant place for the poor, but a near-utopia for the wealthy. Being displaced from that is what really rankles for many Florida Cubans (and their descendents), and they want revenge.
Actually, Marco Rubio's parents left Cuba in 1956, over two years BEFORE the revolution, so arguably they were not even displaced by the revolution (although maybe they saw the writing on the wall). That makes Rubio American-born of Cuban parents who voluntarily left before the revolution. So, how much skin does he really be said have in it? He is, though, the designated representative of many other displaced Cuban (or, mainly these days, their descendents), hence his apparent ardour on the subject.
Either way, one gets the impression that it is Rubio that is driving this latest crackdown by America. Trump probably doesn't care that much, except for the Cuban-American vote. Rubio claims the Cuban government is a severe national security threat to the US, although pretty much everyone knows that is not true.
The United States has long maintained a debilitating embargo on Cuba, an embargo that Trump recently made much, much worse by denying the country its essential imports of oil, which used to come mainly from Venezuela (which is now effectively controlled by the US), leading to devastating power cuts, food shortages, transportation standstill, and a general disabling of its entire economy. Most recently, Trump has announced the indictment of 94-year old Raúl Castro (Fidel's brother) on "Trumped-up" charges relating to events back in 1996.
All this against a small island in the Caribbean which is hard-pressed to keep its own population in order, let alone present a threat to the mighty USA. This Crusade against Cuba makes no real sense, not even for Marco Rubio. But then, why are we still looking for sense with this administration?
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