While acting as National Security Advisor, John Bolton was a strong advocate for U.S. hostility towards Cuba.[1] His dismissal on September 10 [2] raised the hope that this might lead to the U.S. backing away from at least some of these hostile policies.
Those hopes apparently were unjustified.[3]
On September 12, U.S. Senator Marco Rubio tweeted, “Just spoke to [President Trump] on #Venezuela. It’s true he disagreed with some of the views of previous advisor [John Bolton]. But as he reminded me it’s actually the DIRECT OPPOSITE of what many claim or assume. If in fact the direction of policy changes it won’t be to make it weaker.”
This was confirmed by the President in his tweet later the same day: “In fact, my views on Venezuela, and especially Cuba, were far stronger than those of John Bolton. He was holding me back!”
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[1] E.g., John Bolton’s New Threat Against Cuba, dwkcommentaries.com (Apr. 2, 2019); National Security Advisor Bolton Discusses New U.S. Sanctions Against Cuba, dwkcommentaries.com (April 19, 2019).
[2] Baker, Trump Ousts John Bolton as National Security Advisor, N.Y. Times (Sept. 10, 2019).
[3] Rubio, Tweet (Sept. 12, 2019); Trump, Tweet (Sept. 12, 2019); Trump: My views on Venezuela and Cuba were stronger than those of John Bolton, Cubadebate (Sept. 13, 2019).
