Florida Sen. Marco Rubio said Wednesday night in an interview that President Obama “betrayed, betrayed” the Cuban people making a deal with Raul Castro, the communist dictator of Cuba. Rubio, a Cuban American, said the decision is just the latest in a “pattern of ridiculous foreign policy decisions.”
President Obama announced Wednesday that his administration will take steps toward normalizing full diplomatic relations with Cuba and even opening an embassy. The president’s remarks on Cuba underscore his push to end the 1960s-era Cuban embargo, which was instituted in a bipartisan fashion, and come after American hostage Alan Gross was released from a prison in Cuba as part of a prisoner swap.
“I think it stinks, I think it’s wrong, and I am deeply disappointed in the president,” Sen. Bob Menedez (D-NJ), the outgoing Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman said. “And to hear that this has been in the works for over a year, without any consultations, is deeply upsetting.”