The United States Government has sent those working for the State, Justice, and Homeland Security Departments to Cuba in order to engage in “law enforcement” discussions with those of the Cuban government, more specifically, Cuba’s Ministry of the Interior, which has been found responsible for the government’s neglect of human rights for its own people.
Senators Marco Rubio (R-FL) and Rick Scott (R-FL) have sent a letter to Secretary of State Antony Blinken, U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland, and U.S. Secretary of Homeland Security Alejandro Mayorkas imploring that the U.S. government use this opportunity to “advance the political and economic freedoms of the Cuban people, rather than make concessions to the abusive criminal Cuban regime,” according to Rubio press release.
The Senators would state in the letter that using this chance to make strides toward democracy and due process would best serve the Cuban people.
“Past experiences have shown that dialogues with authoritarian regimes, especially ones that do not respect the rule of law, detrimentally affect the Cuban people’s wellbeing and desire to live freely. Only a policy towards Cuba that will enforce democracy and the rule of law will serve as the best foreign policy tool for our national security. It also recognizes the importance of advancing human rights protections as core to our nation’s values,” Rubio and Scott write.
In the letter, the senators also included necessary topics that should be considered when engaging with the Cuban government. Those topics include the facilitation of free and fair elections, releasing political prisoners, extraditing American citizens back to the U.S. so that they can face judgment, “ceasing the weaponization of mass migration” to areas like Key West, and the end of supporting foreign terrorist organizations in countries such as Colombia, Venezuela, and throughout Latin America.
Florida’s shores sit just about 90 miles from Cuba.
