Marco Rubio: We can't IGNORE the threat of Cuba

[0:00] secretary great to have you back thank you so much glad to be back it's been a while there's [0:04] so much to talk about but i want to start with cuba this has been of particular interest to the [0:09] state department right now you guys released a 100-page report on cuba calling it the capital [0:15] of 21st century communism and this report talks about the fact that cuba's goal essentially is to [0:22] erase the united states from the earth it also details a cuban spy network that's been [0:28] undermining american interests how did we get to a place where cuba has become so much of a threat [0:34] it feels like again to the united states i think for those who follow the issue of cuba or this is [0:38] not unfamiliar to us but to the average american you know you see cuba small country 90 miles off [0:43] our shores you know nine and a half million people population what people forget that when it comes [0:47] to things like espionage and influence operations they actually are an influence and espionage [0:51] superpower if you look at the history of espionage in the united states cuba is the only country that [0:56] consistently has implanted and embedded spies in our system without even paying them we had an [1:01] ambassador a u.s ambassador who ended up being a cuban spy and was recently convicted we've had them [1:07] penetrate the highest levels of defense intelligence agency anna belen montez was one of the single [1:12] biggest intelligence failures on the part of the united states and one of the biggest [1:16] penetrations we ever had in our system so and then on the influence front if you look all throughout [1:21] latin america every communist left-wing insurgency that's destabilized governments across the region [1:26] every single one of them over the last 40 50 years has found its support its help in many cases its birth [1:32] from a cuban influence operation so it was an important report just to highlight the role they [1:37] play in our country a very negative role the report also leaks cuban influence to the rise of antifa [1:42] the riots that we saw in 2020 as well as the surge of radical activism that we've seen all over these [1:49] college campuses to the average person those things i think feel generally organic but it turns out [1:56] there are a lot of different powers cuba being one of them that are influencing all of these things [2:00] day to day it's the same network of protesters around the country they were the same people you [2:05] saw on the streets burning things in 2020 they didn't flip it around and they become the pro-hamas [2:09] protesters and they flip it around and within 48 hours of maduro's arrest have pre-printed signs [2:14] outside the courthouse demanding his release then they're out there doing the ice stuff attacking [2:18] ice agents there's nothing organic about it it is funded it is organized and cuba is a part of [2:23] that network and in some cases a critical part of that network and it's a network they will weaponize [2:28] against us and they talk about it openly about how they will use that network to pressure american [2:33] policy makers not just here in the united states like code pink but all over the world critics of [2:38] this report of course are saying oh well these are scare tactics to potentially justify [2:43] some u.s military action against cuba it sounds like this is something we should take seriously [2:48] and this report sounds very real everything in there is factual and frankly i don't think they [2:52] can dispute it uh people can argue that we shouldn't do with it and i know there are plenty [2:56] of people in american academia and frankly in american press that sympathize with the cuban regime and [3:02] have for a very long time part of it is motivated by their anti-americanism and part of it is motivated [3:07] by ideological affinity there are plenty there are enough people in key nodes of our society including [3:12] professors but frankly in the past we've seen people within our own government that sympathize [3:16] with the cuban regime it's the way they get spies without paying them but it doesn't mean we can [3:21] ignore this threat put aside for a moment my history the fact that i'm cuban-american the fact [3:25] that i grew up in miami this is 90 miles from our shores a failed state 90 miles from our shores [3:30] that happens to be aligned with adversaries to the united states is a national security threat to our [3:36] country i want to move quickly to venezuela the interim government and opposition leaders there are [3:41] taking steps towards a possible future with democratic elections what role is the united [3:47] states currently playing and what can you tell us well the first thing about venezuela is i know [3:51] we're not in the era of patience and persistence but these things take time you're dealing with a [3:55] system that's been in place for over a quarter century so those are deep roots that you have to [3:59] deal with it's also a country that faces a lot of problems i mean a lot of economic problems [4:04] not to mention now they've had an earthquake so that's why we've always talked about phase one [4:09] our priority was stabilization we didn't want the country devolving into civil war mass migration [4:14] you know civil unrest and so forth step two is is a recovery phase which i think we're into [4:19] obviously the earthquake adds complexity to it you've got to have a functioning economy you need [4:24] to have laws and rules and regulations in place so that investors from america and around the world can [4:29] go in and safely invest and create prosperity ultimately you have to have transition at some point in [4:34] time there has to be legitimate elections at every level so that people know that the government that's [4:39] there is a legitimate government chosen by their people step one towards that is the national [4:43] reconciliation this is the people that have been divided politically for a very long time against [4:48] each other and you're going to have to look at models like what you saw happen in eastern europe [4:52] after the fall of the soviet union i think the role the u.s government can continue to play as a [4:56] facilitator of all of this you've been outspoken for many years about the threat from china [5:02] president xi of course is going to come visit here in washington d.c in september you've had [5:07] to sit across the table though from china's foreign minister you've had to you know negotiate and talk [5:12] on america's behalf how have you found in this role negotiating with beijing on the one hand all the [5:18] things that china wants to become the most powerful country in the world and they want to do so at our [5:22] expense obviously we are americans we're not going to allow that to happen at the same time they are the [5:28] two most powerful economies in the world probably the two most powerful militaries in the world [5:32] although ours is further along than theirs but nonetheless and i think it's important for two [5:37] big countries like this the two most powerful countries in the world have to have a relationship [5:41] have to have the ability to speak to one another and try to de-conflict or possible because it could [5:45] lead to some really bad things the foundation of that is the relationship that president trump has with [5:49] president g which is a relationship of mutual respect and they get along and that really is important [5:54] that our two presidents can speak to one another and it's okay it's i think it's almost irresponsible [5:59] by the way to not have direct communications with the chinese we want stability in our relationship [6:04] both sides i think recognize that there are areas where we're not going to agree and including areas [6:08] where we're going to have to compete now there are areas we can work together on that's phenomenal [6:12] fantastic for the world but i think there's going to be a lot of areas of friction and competition we [6:16] have to manage that at the same time as we have to have a relationship with them but we always have to look [6:21] out for what's best for america well it seems like china's been on their best behavior knowing that [6:25] president trump is in the white house um but a lot of people believe that they may be just biding their [6:32] time in terms of possibly taking over taiwan um what do you say to that well i don't i can't speak 20 [6:39] or 30 years from now i can say that our position is we we support we don't support any change to the [6:44] current status quo that exists there right now we would be against any sort of compelled or coerced [6:49] change in status that point was made very clear in our meetings with the chinese obviously they [6:53] have a very different point of view it's a very sensitive issue for them so again it's part of [6:57] that delicate balancing act we can't because look any conflict between the us and china be it economic [7:02] or be it military god forbid would be catastrophic for both countries and for the world so we have to [7:07] manage that but we can't walk away or forfeit our national interests so this is the hard work of [7:12] foreign policy and it requires every administration to sort of balance these these two competing tugs against [7:17] us well we hear a lot about tensions with china we hear a lot about tensions with russia with iran daily [7:23] i think americans probably at some point get very overwhelmed because unfortunately the good stuff [7:28] doesn't make it out there often enough what would you say though about the stability of of the world [7:33] right now given you're in your position the president is who he is i think the world has always been [7:38] complicated and tricky i think the difference now is if something happens halfway around the world in a [7:43] place you've never heard about before and it's really dramatic you're going to hear about it almost [7:47] instantaneously i think the world is also going through a period of rapid transformation i mean [7:52] there is clearly a geopolitical reordering that is occurring and i've talked about this repeatedly [7:57] you know we are after the end of the cold war everybody thought the whole world was just going [8:02] to become free enterprise democracies and everyone would get along and nation states would no longer [8:06] matter and unfortunately we made decisions in our foreign policy on that ridiculous basis that actually [8:11] caused us to hurt our country we started saying things like we don't care where things are made let it be [8:16] made in another country as long as it's cheaper prices for america and it ended up deindustrializing [8:21] our country and costing us millions of jobs so what you see president trump doing now is rebalancing [8:26] those things on the economy using tariffs on geopolitics using our presence in the world especially in the [8:32] western hemisphere our own you know area neighborhood that we live in and then of course there are legacy [8:36] threats like the iranian threat of a nuclear program which can never happen the president's been very clear about [8:41] that so you have all the old threats plus the emerging new ones and they're all happening at the [8:45] same time and they're happening faster than they ever have before and it'll be the work of this [8:49] administration but it'll be the work of future administration some of these things are going [8:52] to take decades to work themselves out be sure to like and subscribe for all the fox news latest on [9:00] youtube and catch full shows streaming now on fox one