WASHINGTON — During an emergency cabinet meeting on Wednesday at the White House, President Donald Trump asked U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio to give an update on Cuba and Venezuela.
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Rubio said the Grupo de Administración Empresarial S.A., or GAESA, a business conglomerate operated by the Cuban Revolutionary Armed Forces, controls 70% of the island’s economy.
Rubio said none of GAESA’s profits help the Cuban people, and this is a problem for the U.S., because having a failed state 90 miles away from U.S. shores is a threat to national security.
“Cuba is in a lot of trouble because, unfortunately for them, it’s run by a bunch of incompetent communists,” Rubio said. “Being a communist is bad, being an incompetent communist is like the worst.”
Rubio said the U.S. is continuing talks with Cuban officials. He did not mention the recent U.S. indictment of Raúl Castro over the fatal 1996 shootdown of two Brothers to the Rescue planes.
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In Venezuela, Rubio said, the process of “stabilization, recovery, and transition” was ongoing. He estimated that over 10 million barrels of oil had been delivered to the U.S. since Jan. 3.
Rubio added that Venezuela was selling oil at market rates, and “the money” was deposited into an account based in the U.S. that was audited by KPMG, and was controlled by the U.S. Department of Treasury.
“The money is not being stolen,” Rubio said. “It’s going to the benefit of the Venezuelan people.”
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