Rubio on Cuba: ‘They have to get new people in charge’

Secretary of State Marco Rubio on Tuesday said Cuba needs to change its political leaders after reports this week that the Trump administration is seeking to push President Miguel Díaz-Canel from power.

Rubio did not rule out relaxing the U.S.’s long-standing embargo on Cuba in exchange for political reform. 

“Suffice it to say that the embargo is tied to political change on the island. The law is codified, but the bottom line is, their economy doesn’t work. It’s a non-functional economy,” Rubio said, noting that Cuba has long relied on subsidies from the Soviet Union and then Venezuela. 

“They don’t get subsidies anymore, so they’re in a lot of trouble, and the people in charge, they don’t know how to fix it, so they have to get new people in charge,” he added. 

Oscar Pérez-Oliva Fraga, Cuba’s deputy prime minister, told NBC News on Monday the country would move to allow foreign investment in the economy, a step toward opening up one of the world’s most rigid state-run economies. 

Rubio, on Tuesday, said that wasn’t far........

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