Since January, the U.S. president has imposed an oil blockade on Cuba and has repeatedly issued military threats.
In a procedural vote on Tuesday, the U.S. Senate rejected a motion proposed by Democrats to limit President Donald Trump’s war powers, which aims to prevent the president from launching military action against Cuba without congressional authorization.
The Republican-held Senate voted 51-47 to uphold an objection raised by Senator Rick Scott against the Democrats’ motion to discharge the resolution from the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.
Susan Collins and Rand Paul were the only two Republicans who voted in support of the Democrats-led war powers resolution. Senator John Fetterman was the only Democrat to vote for the objection against the resolution, which was sponsored by Ruben Gallego, Tim Kaine and Adam Schiff.
Since January, the Trump administration has imposed a new round of oil restrictions on Cuba and has repeatedly issued military threats. He is considering efforts to promote a “regime change” in Cuba.
On March 27, Trump said “Cuba is next” during a Miami investment forum, suggesting the Caribbean island nation is the next target for U.S. military action after Venezuela and Iran.
“As if the disaster of the Iran War and the resulting spike in oil prices weren’t enough, Trump is threatening to intervene in Cuba as well,” Gallego said in a statement before the vote.
Rubio Accuses Cuba of Hosting Foreign Intelligence Operations
On Tuesday, U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio accused Cuba of facilitating the presence of foreign intelligence services on its territory. “We will not allow adversaries of the United States to operate intelligence or military bases 90 miles from us,” Rubio warned in an interview with Fox News.
“Things can improve in Cuba with serious economic reforms, but not with the people currently in charge. They are economically incompetent,” the top U.S. diplomat said, referring to the administration of Cuban President Miguel Diaz-Canel.
Rubio’s statements come in the context of Cuba’s historical relationship with rival powers of the U.S., which dates back to the Cold War, when the island aligned itself with the then-Soviet Union following the Cuban Revolution.
Since the collapse of the Soviet bloc in 1991, Cuba has maintained ties with Russia and, in recent decades, has also expanded its cooperation with China in economic and technological areas.
teleSUR/ JF
Source: Xinhua
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