Secretary of State Marco Rubio does not mince words, especially on Latin America. When asked by Senator Brian Schatz (D-HI) whether he’d rule out regime change in Cuba during a recent Foreign Relations Committee hearing, Rubio did not hesitate.

“I think we would love to see that regime there change,” he said.

While Schatz and other critics were taken aback, Rubio’s comments reflected not only a Trump administration confident in its Western Hemisphere policy but also long-standing foreign policy goals codified into United States law.

For decades, Congress, with the support of successive administrations, has outlined ambitious goals to protect U.S. interests and degrade anti-American regimes in our own backyard. These goals have received insufficient attention in Washington amid competing priorities in other regions of the world, which has facilitated the continued rule of a decrepit communist regime in Cuba and a failing socialist dictatorship in Venezuela. Whether critics agree with the methods or not, the difference now is that President Donald Trump is willing to take decisive action to realize U.S. goals in both countries.

Trump’s decision to crack down on countries that send oil to........

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