Washington, Jan 4, (dpa/GNA) – US Secretary of State, Marco Rubio, described the government of Cuba as a “huge problem” on Sunday, a day after the Trump administration captured Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro and flew him out of the country.
Asked whether Cuba could be next following the dramatic US military operation in Caracas, Rubio said in an interview with NBC News that he did not want to speculate about “future steps.”
“But I don’t think it’s any mystery that we are not big fans of the Cuban regime, who, by the way, are the ones that were propping up Maduro.”
Rubio’s parents emigrated from Cuba to the United States in 1956 during the dictatorship of Fulgencio Batista. His father later worked as a bartender and his mother as a hotel maid.
Rubio has long pushed for Washington to take a tough line on Havana, including when he was senator from Florida.
The US military carried out a large-scale strike on Venezuela early Saturday. During an operation dubbed Absolute Determination, elite units captured Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores, and took them out of the country.
Maduro is now being held in a detention facility in New York, where he is due to stand trial on charges including conspiracy to commit narco-terrorism and conspiracy to import cocaine.
Relations between Havana and Washington have been tense for decades. Steps toward a cautious rapprochement under former US president Barack Obama were later reversed by his successor, Donald Trump.
GNA