Mr. Rubio’s Lies (I)

The lies of Marcos Rubio, now as U.S. Secretary of State, deserve ongoing scrutiny. His entire political career has been built on deceit, like when he claimed that his parents fled to the U.S. to escape communism —despite the fact that they actually emigrated in 1956, during Batista’s dictatorship.

But now, the focus is on debunking his statements in his role as a high-ranking official in the U.S. government, a position that is supposedly more serious and carries greater consequences for his words and decisions compared to the shady dealings tolerated by the Cuban-American mafia in Congress, where Rubio, as is well known, climbed the ranks by swindling his peers.

Recently, barely a month into his role as the top diplomat of his country, Mr. Rubio, while touring Central America, lashed out against Cuba, Venezuela, and Nicaragua, claiming they are a threat to humanity due to their alleged role in the wave of migration that reaches the United States annually.

A simple statistic, taken from publicly available data provided by U.S. authorities, easily disproves this claim. As the saying goes, “facts kill narratives.” Let’s take a look.

On one hand, it is evident that there is a direct correlation between irregular migration from Cuba and the increased pressure policies deployed by Trump during his first administration and maintained by Biden. If in 2014 the number of Cuban migrants was around 24,000, by the end of fiscal year 2022, it had risen to 224,607 (the highest in the series), precisely when Cuba had been re-included on the list of state sponsors of terrorism, and the cumulative hardships caused by sanctions had severe effects.

Moreover, Cuba is far from being the primary source of irregular migration in the region. Historical trends consistently show that Mexico and the Northern Triangle (Guatemala, El Salvador, and Honduras) account for the majority of migrants attempting to cross the southern U.S. border. In 2022 alone, Mexico accounted for 823,057 migrants, while the Northern Triangle countries totaled 545,833 —together making up around 1.37 million migrants.

Another blatant lie from Mr. Rubio —one he stubbornly defended despite being debunked— was his claim that he had negotiated an exemption for U.S.-flagged vessels from paying tolls when crossing the Panama Canal.

Panamanian President José Raúl Mulino, who was unnecessarily dragged into the scandal, was forced to issue a formal denial. This left his Panamanian host, who had welcomed him warmly, in an awkward position. It also embarrassed his boss, the White House occupant, who had boasted about the "successful agreements" that, in reality, never existed —particularly the one that was supposed to save the U.S. millions of dollars.

As the USAID scandal unfolds, CNN has highlighted how Mr. Rubio has repeatedly praised and defended the agency —much like his predecessor, the corrupt Bob Menéndez. One day, we may discover just how much of USAID’s multi-billion-dollar budget "accidentally" ended up in Rubio’s own pockets.

Comparing the U.S.’s record of crimes against humanity with Cuba’s well-documented humanitarian efforts across hundreds of countries seems unnecessary. As Barack Obama reportedly put it: “While the United States sends soldiers, Cuba sends doctors.”

The U.S. owes humanity a debt of over 20 million lives lost in its post-WWII wars of plunder —not to mention the unnecessary horror unleashed on Hiroshima and Nagasaki. It owes the world for its arrogance, its relentless imposition of sanctions on over 60 countries, and for overburdening its own Treasury Department, which has publicly admitted that managing these sanctions has become unmanageable.

It owes the world for nuclear blackmail, the imperialist nature of its system now imploding, and the Hollywood-crafted lies used to justify its actions while deceiving the American people —who themselves are victims of systemic manipulation designed to conceal the ever-widening wealth gap between a handful of hyper-billionaires and the rest of the population. And the list goes on.

Cuba, in particular, has suffered over 60 years of a cruel and genocidal economic war. More than 5,000 Cubans have been killed or maimed by U.S.-sponsored terrorism, including the bombing of a Cubana de Aviación flight. The U.S. is responsible for the Bay of Pigs invasion, the October Missile Crisis, biological warfare, and, more recently, a sustained media assault filled with lies and absurd calls to action. Again, the list goes on.

In his short time as imperial chancellor, Mr. Rubio is already trying to shift his boss’s priorities. While the administration is currently focused on deporting people of different racial backgrounds from his own (and Trump’s, of course), Rubio has smuggled in his old anti-Cuba rhetoric —relying on the same tired arguments from his days as a senator. Perhaps he has not realized that diplomatic decorum is now required in his new role, especially when dealing with Latin American leaders, the vast majority of whom maintain friendly ties with Cuba.

To rephrase it, Rubio is once again recklessly deepening the U.S.'s isolation regarding Cuba —both in the region and worldwide. If he has any doubts, he should take a look at the UN General Assembly's overwhelming votes against the blockade, one of the most widely supported resolutions in that forum. It would be useful for the U.S. Secretary of State to read up occasionally and see that reality is different from the Marvel universe.

Perhaps it is time to establish a Rubio Lies Observatory (RLO) —a dedicated repository for cataloging the verbal fabrications of the newly minted Secretary of State. He is on track to outdo his predecessors, who left their own disgraceful legacies —like Colin Powell and his infamous weapons of mass destruction speech at the UN, or the self-incriminating Mike Pompeo, who openly admitted, “We lied, we cheated, we stole.”

The current U.S. Secretary of State is the type to talk about cattle when the subject is UFOs, if the metaphor fits —but no one is buying it, especially now that some 707 USAID-funded propaganda outlets have been cut off from the payroll.

To be continued!

Translated by Sergio A. Paneque Díaz / CubaSí Translation Staff