Rubio: Kina och Ryssland förser Kuba med vapen och driver spionbaser | NTD NYHETER

Next, Secretary of State Marco Rubio says China and Russia have been supplying weapons to Cuba while keeping a significant intelligence presence there. This comes as the U.S. has arrested the sister of a top executive at Cuba's military-run corporation. NDD's Washington correspondent Jack Bradley has the details. Secretary of State Marco Rubio says Cuba has always been a national security threat, and it's getting worse. He points directly to weapons and intelligence support coming from two of America's top adversaries. Here he is from Florida. Cuba not only has weapons that they've acquired from Russia and China over the years, but they also host Russian and Chinese intelligence presence in their country, not far from where we're standing right now. And the other thing that poses a threat to the national security of the United States is to have a failed state 90 miles from our shores, run by friends of our adversaries. Several reports confirm Beijing has operated and upgraded intelligence collection facilities in Cuba, giving it the ability to eavesdrop on U.S. military installations, including commands in Florida. Mounting evidence suggests that the Chinese Communist Party is expanding its strategic partnership with the totalitarian communist regime in Cuba to build advanced surveillance infrastructure capable of targeting the United States. CSIS positively identified about four specific facilities as highly likely sites supporting Chinese intelligence operations targeting the U.S. Russia is also deep in ties, supplying fuel and reaffirming military support for Cuba. But new pressure from the U.S. is coming down on Cuba, including new action against GAESA, the secretive military-run conglomerate that U.S. officials say controls around 40 percent of Cuba's economy. They have a private military company named GAESA who's sitting on $18 billion of assets, and not a penny of that transfers over to the state budget. Not a penny of that goes over to help the people of Cuba. Not one cent. Secretary Rubio just announced the arrest of Idis Lestres Marrera, the sister of GAESA's executive president. She's been living in Florida as a lawful permanent resident since 2023, managing real estate assets. Rubio says that she was aiding Havana's communist regime. Her green card was revoked, and she's now in ICE custody pending removal. ICE says that her presence posed a threat to national security and undermined American foreign policy. Rubio says there's little time left for the Cuban regime. That's what they've gotten used to all these years is just buying time and waiting us out. The president's preference is always a negotiated agreement that's peaceful. That's always our preference, that remains our preference with Cuba. I'm just being honest with you, you know, the likelihood of that happening given who we're dealing with right now is not high. The latest move is part of a broader Trump administration crackdown targeting the financial lifelines of the Cuban regime. For NTD News Washington, I'm Jack Bradley.