Rubio Backs Sanctions on Cubametales

The U.S. Treasury Department announced this week that new financial sanctions would be imposed on Cubametales, Cuba’s state-run oil shipping firm.

The move is meant to weaken Nicolas Maduro’s hold in Venezuela.

In response to the financial sanctions, Florida Senator Marco Rubio (R) released a statement commenting on the decision, slamming Cubametales for continuing to illicitly import Venezuelan oil from the Maduro dictatorship.

In his statement, Senator Rubio detailed that “America continues to increase pressure against Nicolas Maduro’s illegitimate dictatorship and its foreign enablers, including the Cuban regime.”

In addition, Senator Rubio noted that “it’s critical for the free world, including E.U. Member States and Canada, to do the same in support of efforts by the Interim President Juan Guaidó and the Venezuelan people to restore democracy, constitutional order, and human dignity.”

Moreover, the Florida Senator also urged “the U.S. and other nations to hold accountable Vladimir Putin’s regime and Russian state-controlled entities that have helped Maduro and his cronies to evade oil sanctions and generate illicit revenue.”

Steve Mnuchin, the U.S. Treasury Secretary, expressed this week that Nicolas Maduro is clinging to power by using shipments of Venezuelan oil to buy critical intelligence and military support from Havana, Cuba.

And, with developments, Treasury officials also informed that sanctions against PB Tankers would be lifted because the firm had stopped delivering Venezuelan oil to the island nation.

Senator Marco Rubio is the Chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Subcommittee on Western Hemisphere, Transnational Crime, Civilian Security, Democracy, Human Rights, and Global Women’s Issues.

Along with the Trump administration, Republicans like Senator Rubio have voiced their disapproval of Nicolas Maduro’s reelection last year, calling it illegitimate.

In response, Maduro has criticized the United States, arguing that the U.S. is spearheading an imperialist economic war against Venezuela.