Rubio says Cuba’s future on irreversible path to change

U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said he was confident Cuba would be on an “irreversible path” towards a fundamentally different future by the end of the Trump administration, while acknowledging that such a transformation would take time.

“I think Cuba will, by the time this administration’s over, before this administration ends, be on an irreversible path towards a much different future,” Rubio said in an interview with Katie Miller’s podcast.

Rubio said decades of Cuba’s existing system could not be dismantled overnight.

“You can’t have something in place for 70 years, it grows roots, and then think overnight you’re just going to rip out the whole thing and put something brand-new into the ground,” he said.

He said a transition and a process would be necessary, pointing to Eastern Europe as an example. Countries in the region, he said, took three to five years to become what they are today, with Poland being “probably the best example.”

Rubio said Cuba would be “well along that path” under the current administration, adding that the issue was a priority because he believed it was in the U.S. national interest.

“I work for the United States of America,” Rubio said. “I care about Cuba, obviously I have a personal connection to it, but I don’t work for Cuba; I work for the United States.”

He said he believed it was in the U.S. national interest to have a Cuba that was “safe and stable and aligned with the U.S.”, adding that he had the same view of Venezuela.

By Aghakazim Guliyev