Marco Rubio voices ‘grave concern’ over Cuban visit to Coast Guard HQ

Marco Rubio seeks to cut off a line of revenue for Venezuela.

As the Joe Biden administration attempts to thaw the chilly relationship the U.S. has with Cuba, a Florida Senator is raising concerns about what he calls an “egregious dereliction of duty.”

Marco Rubio is condemning a scheduled visit to the states by “operatives from the Cuban regime’s Border Guard, and the dictatorship’s Ministry of Foreign Relations,”  who “will soon visit the United States to meet with the U.S. Coast Guard and to our facilities.”

“Extending an invitation to Cuban intelligence operatives into sensitive national security facilities in order to share with them our nation’s coastal and maritime security protocols is an egregious dereliction of duty that betrays one of the most fundamental tenets of the oath you have sworn, to protect America from foreign enemies. You must cancel this visit immediately, and explain to the American people how this was allowed to happen on your watch,” Rubio wrote the President.

The meeting is slated for Wilmington, North Carolina next week.

“Not only is the regime’s Border Guard subordinate to Cuba’s Ministry of the Interior, which is on the list of Restricted Entities and Subentities Associated with Cuba, but there is also a high likelihood that the delegation will include members of Cuba’s intelligence agencies.  This is reprehensible and sends a terrible message to Americans and the world.  I demand that you immediately cancel this visit and provide a clear explanation for why you are sharing our nation’s security protocols with one of our nation’s oldest foreign adversaries.”

The Senator contends that it “is unconscionable that (Biden) would allow security operatives from Cuba – a State Sponsor of Terrorism that actively cooperates with narcotics traffickers, China, Russia, and Iran – the opportunity to access sensitive national security installations and maritime security protocols.”

Rubio’s outrage is not surprising, but the dialogue between the Biden Administration and the Cuban regime is well underway. In January, representatives from the State Department, Justice Department, Homeland Security, the FBI, and the Coast Guard met with Cuban counterparts in Havana, as Reuters reported contemporaneously.