Secretary of State Marco Rubio does not mince words, especially on Latin America. When asked by Senator Brian Schatz (D-HI) whether he’d rule out regime change in Cuba during a recent Foreign Relations Committee hearing, Rubio did not hesitate.
“I think we would love to see that regime there change,” he said.
While Schatz and other critics were taken aback, Rubio’s comments reflected not only a Trump administration confident in its Western Hemisphere policy but also long-standing foreign policy goals codified into United States law.
For decades, Congress, with the support of successive administrations, has outlined ambitious goals to protect U.S. interests and degrade anti-American regimes in our own backyard. These goals have received insufficient attention in Washington amid competing priorities in other regions of the world, which has facilitated the continued rule of a decrepit communist regime in Cuba and a failing socialist dictatorship in Venezuela. Whether critics agree with the methods or not, the difference now is that President Donald Trump is willing to take decisive action to realize U.S. goals in both countries.
Trump’s decision to crack down on countries that send oil to Cuba aggressively implements the goals articulated in statutes governing U.S. policy in Cuba.
Under the 1996 Cuban Liberty and Democratic Solidarity (LIBERTAD) Act and its predecessor, the Cuban Democracy Act, it was the policy of the United States “to maintain sanctions on [Cuban dictator Fidel Castro’s] regime so long as it continues to refuse to move toward democratization and greater respect for human rights.” Additionally, the LIBERTAD Act only allows the President to lift the embargo on Cuba if there’s a change in government on the island and imposes an obligation on the President to “encourage foreign countries to restrict trade and credit relations with Cuba” until that happens.
In other words, “Cuba Libre,” or free Cuba, is the law of the land.
The Trump administration’s effort to prevent Venezuelan and Mexican oil from reaching Havana is fully consistent with these priorities. This approach stands in stark contrast to President Barack Obama’s attempt to thaw relations with the Communist Party of Cuba during his second term, which ignored how the Cuban regime, now led by Miguel Díaz-Canel, supports terrorism, undermines U.S. national security, and commits human rights violations against its people.
In Venezuela, Trump’s decision to force Nicolás Maduro to face justice in the U.S. and impose a regime transition provides the best chance yet of achieving enduring American objectives there.
The U.S. has imposed escalating sanctions on Venezuela related to terrorism, narcotics trafficking, and human rights violations in the country for more than 20 years. After a violent wave of repression against members of the Venezuelan opposition in 2014, Congress enacted legislation declaring U.S. policy to “support the people of Venezuela in their aspiration to live under conditions of peace and representative democracy.”
The U.S. government also repeatedly targeted Maduro himself before his capture on Jan. 3.
In 2017, the Treasury Department sanctioned Maduro for human rights abuses and corruption. And in 2020, the Department of Justice indicted Maduro and other senior regime officials for participating in a narco-terrorism conspiracy against the United States. Congress has also endorsed the Trump administration’s view that Maduro is not the legitimate elected leader of Venezuela.
President Joe Biden, however, failed to bring Maduro to face U.S. justice and made significant concessions to the regime.
In 2023, Maduro committed to holding a free and fair election the following year. As a reward, the Biden administration relaxed U.S. sanctions on Venezuelan oil and agreed to grant clemency to Alex Saab, Maduro’s bag man, in exchange for 10 Americans the dictator had held hostage. Not only did Maduro break that commitment and steal Venezuela’s 2024 presidential election, but he even appointed the newly-freed Saab as a cabinet minister.
CUBA IS THE BIG LOSER IN MADURO’S CAPTURE
In the weeks and months ahead, the Trump administration will face difficult decisions as it increases pressure on the Cuban regime and seeks to stabilize, recover, and transition Venezuela away from Chavismo. The only reason these decision points are on the table, however, is because President Trump took significant action to follow through on years of bipartisan foreign policy goals. The people of Cuba and Venezuela are grateful that he did.
Connor Pfeiffer is senior director of government relations at FDD Action and a former congressional staffer who worked on Western Hemisphere issues in the U.S. Senate and House of Representatives. He can be found on X @ConnorPfeiffer.