Secretary of State Marco Rubio
Photo by MANDEL NGAN/POOL/AFP via Getty Images
Secretary of State Marco Rubio said the Cuban regime would need to allow the people "more freedom" if it wants to avoid losing power.
Speaking to Bloomberg on the sidelines of the Munich Security Conference, Rubio was asked if there is an "off ramp" for the regime as the U.S. continues to intensify pressure on Havana.
"It is important for the people of Cuba to have more freedom. not just political but economic. The regime is not willing to give it to them. It is afraid that if the people of Cuba can provide for themselves they lose control over them," he said.
"The regime has survived almost entirely on subsidies," Rubio added. "First from the Soviet Union, then Hugo Chavez. Now they don't have any. the model has been laid bare."
Elsewhere in the interview, Rubio said that the "fundamental" problem with the country is that "it has no economy, and the people who are in charge of that country and in control of it don't know how to improve the everyday lives of their people without giving up power over the sectors they control."
"They want to control everything. They don't want the people of Cuba to control anything. So they don't know how to get themselves out of this. And to the extent that they've been offered opportunities to do so, they don't seem to be able to comprehend or accept them in any way. They would much rather be in charge of a dying country than allow it to prosper," he added.
In the meantime, the Cuban economy continues teetering on the brink of collapse. On Friday, a massive fire broke out at the Ñico López oil refinery in Havana Bay, sending a towering plume of black smoke into the sky, further straining the country's energy failing energy grid.
The timing of the fire compounds existing challenges. Cuba's energy system has been stretched thin since the end of substantial oil deliveries from Venezuela last year, a development that analysts say has deepened what many on the island call the worst energy crisis in decades. Restrictions on fuel sales and a government emergency plan that reduced the work week are among the measures instituted to conserve dwindling supplies.
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Marco Rubio Slams Cuban Regime As U.S. Intensifies Pressure On Havana: 'Rather Be In Charge of a Dying Company Than Allow It To Prosper'
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Tags: Marco Rubio, Cuba, United States