Secretary of State Marco Rubio on Tuesday again blasted the Cuban government, labeling it a "failed state" run by "incompetent communists."
Speaking to reporters at the White House, Rubio addressed the worsening energy and economic crisis in Cuba, dismissing claims that U.S. policies amount to an oil blockade.
Rubio said Cuba’s current energy shortages are the result of a fractured relationship with its long-time benefactor, Venezuela, rather than American intervention.
"There's no oil blockade on Cuba, per se," Rubio said. "Cuba used to get free oil from Venezuela... They would take like sixty percent of that oil and resell it for cash. It wouldn't even go to benefit the people."
He said with oil prices skyrocketing and global energy markets tighter, Venezuela has significantly scaled back its subsidies.
"The only blockade that's happened is ... the Venezuelans have decided we're not giving you free oil anymore," he said, adding that in the current market, "no one's giving away free oil, much less to a failed regime."
Cuba’s power crisis deepened after the U.S. attacked Venezuela in early January, halting critical oil shipments from the South American country. Later that month, U.S. President Donald Trump threatened tariffs on any country that sells or provides oil to Cuba.
As a result, the island spent more than three months without a single oil shipment until a Russian tanker laden with 730,000 barrels docked in Cuba in late March.
'Failed state' 90 miles from U.S.
Rubio blames the Cuban communist regime and its leaders for its horrible management of the economy.
"Their economic model doesn't work," he said. "And the people who are in charge can't fix it."
"The reason they can't fix it is not just 'cause they're communists, that's bad enough, but they're incompetent communists," he said.
"The only thing worse than a communist is an incompetent one," he added.
Rubio is preparing for an important visit to the Vatican to meet with Pope Leo, and that Cuba will be a primary agenda item.
The U.S. is reportedly exploring a plan to bypass the Cuban government by using the Catholic Church as a primary distributor for food and medicine.
"We're willing to give more humanitarian aid to Cuba, by the way, distribute it through the church, but the Cuban regime has to allow us to do it," Rubio said. "They won't allow us to give their own people more humanitarian aid, and we're willing to do it through the church."
