Washington, March 17 (IANS). US President Donald Trump and US Secretary of State Marco Rubio have launched a scathing attack on the government of Cuba after the nationwide power crisis. Both leaders called Cuba’s economic system a “complete failure” and stressed the need for major political change.
During his meeting with the Prime Minister of Ireland in the Oval Office, Trump said that America is keeping a close eye on the situation in Cuba and some action can be taken soon. He said, “Cuba is in a very bad situation right now. We are going to do something about it very soon.”
At the same time, Rubio described Cuba’s current situation as the result of a deep structural crisis. He said that Cuba’s economy is not working and the political system there is not capable of improving it. According to him, “They need big changes.”
Rubio also said that measures recently announced by the Cuban government are not enough to address the crisis. He alleged that Cuba’s economy depended for decades on external aid, especially from the Soviet Union and later Venezuela, but now this support has almost ended, making the situation worse.
He also raised questions on Cuba’s leadership and said that the current rulers do not know the solution to this crisis, hence new leadership is needed.
Speaking on US policy, Rubio made it clear that the trade embargo on Cuba will not be lifted until there is political change there.
In fact, the recent power grid failure in Cuba left a large part of the country in darkness, which has exposed the seriousness of the energy and economic crisis there.
A senior US State Department official also linked this situation to the failure of Cuba’s governance system. The official said the frequent blackouts are an indication of the government’s inability to provide even basic services to its citizens.
The US believes that this crisis is not just a technical or infrastructure problem, but is part of Cuba’s broader economic and political crisis.
–IANS
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