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marco rubio
State Department Pushes Human Rights Watchdog to Ignore Deadly, Illegal Boat Strike Campaign
As the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights was advised not to investigate the bombings, Pentagon officials expressed support for strikes on land, ostensibly against drug traffickers.
Apr 14, 2026
The former president of a top international human rights watchdog views the United States' monthslong campaign of bombing boats in the Caribbean Sea and eastern Pacific Ocean as a clear-cut case of "murder," he told The Intercept Monday, but he warned that pressure from the Trump administration may stop the body from investigating the Pentagon's actions.
Juan Méndez, a former president of the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights, noted that a month after the IACHR held a hearing on the boat bombing campaign, officials "may well feel that this is a very delicate situation, and if they take the initiative, they’re going to incur the wrath of the United States."
The hearing last month was the first of its kind and included testimonies from the ACLU, the Center for Constitutional Rights, International Crisis Group, and Ben Saul, the United Nations special rapporteur on counterterrorism and human rights. The groups presented evidence that the US has been violating both domestic and international law by bombing vessels that it has claimed—without making any evidence publicly available—are involved in drug trafficking. Nearly 170 people have been killed in dozens of strikes, and legal experts worldwide have asserted the US is violating international law and has committed extrajudicial killings—potentially making those involved in the strikes liable for murder.
The hearing was followed by a statement from Tommy Pigott, a State Department spokesperson, who said the IACHR had "strayed far outside its mandate” by looking into the boat attacks—as the family of one man killed in a bombing requested it to—and accused the ACLU of trying to manipulate the body.
"The United States calls on the commission to adhere to its statute and rules of procedure in the future and avoid inserting itself into matters that are in active domestic litigation and fall outside the human rights sphere," said Pigott. "Convening hearings under these circumstances risks undermining—not strengthening—the credibility of the inter-American human rights system."
Pigott also called on the commission to "redirect its focus toward the individual petitions languishing on its docket, sometimes for decades." He did not mention specific petitions or issues the IACHR should focus on.
Carl Anderson, a legal adviser at the State Department, also rebuked the commission for holding the proceedings.
"If the United States cuts the funding, they probably would have to shut down—at least for a while.”
A person with close ties to the IACHR told The Intercept that Pigott's demand that the commission focus on other topics pointed to a pressure campaign aimed at stoking fear that the IACHR could lose its funding.
President Donald Trump's zeroed out US contributions to the commission during his first term in 2018, and withdrew some funding the following year due to its support for abortion rights. The administration terminated funding last year for at least 22 programs under the IACHR's parent body, the Organization of American States, of which the US is the largest international funder.
“They are stretched for funding," Méndez told The Intercept. "And if the United States cuts the funding, they probably would have to shut down—at least for a while.”
Stuardo Ralón, the IACHR's current president, denied that there is "pressure from the United States on the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights," but suggested it may not conduct a comprehensive investigation into the Trump administration's boat bombings—saying the body "does not conduct investigations."
The Intercept noted that the IACHR has conducted numerous investigations that it has publicly acknowledged and described as such, including into US immigration detention centers and the kidnapping and apparent killing of 43 students in Mexico in 2014.
Ralón told the outlet that it has not yet taken any steps to launch an investigation into the strikes following the hearing, and said it "will continue to monitor the situation in accordance with its mandate."
Jamil Dakwar, director of the ACLU’s human rights program, emphasized that "the commission is within its competency and its bounds to fully investigate the egregious violations of international law happening in its own backyard.”
“We have asked the commission to fulfill its responsibilities as the premier regional human rights body to conduct a fact-finding investigation of these heinous killings," Dakwar told The Intercept, "and to ensure that no country can act in this fashion because that will have severe implications on human rights in the region and beyond."
As the State Department has pushed the IACHR away from probing the legality of the boat bombings, administration officials like Joseph Humire, acting assistant secretary of war for homeland defense and Americas security affairs, have warned that the attacks at sea are "just the beginning" of what officials claim is an effort to defeat drug cartels—against which Congress has not authorized any military action.
US Southern Command announced a joint ground operation with Ecuador last month to defeat "narco-terrorists."
Humire said the Pentagon supports "joint land strikes," while Gen. Francis Donovan, the head of US Southern Command who has been directing the boat attacks, told the Senate Armed Service Committee that the Pentagon is moving toward "a counter-cartel campaign process that puts total systemic friction across this network."
"I believe," he said, "these kinetic [boat] strikes are just one small part of that.”
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On Conspiracy Theorist Laura Loomer's Orders, Rubio Announces Arrest of 2 Women for Supporting Iran
The State Department said the women were related to the assassinated Iranian military commander Qasem Soleimani, but Iranian media said they had no connection to him.
Apr 04, 2026
With a majority of Americans including President Donald Trump's own base demanding a swift end to the war in Iran—and Iran's military capabilities proving difficult to overpower—observers suggested on Saturday that the White House was looking elsewhere to score "victories," as Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced that federal agents had arrested relatives of the late Major General Qasem Soleimani, the Iranian military commander who the US assassinated in 2020 during President Donald Trump's first term.
Rubio accused Soleimani's niece, Hamideh Soleimani Afshar, of promoting "regime propaganda" and voicing support for the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), and said she had been living a "lavish lifestyle" in the US. Afshar's husband has been barred from entering the US and the lawful permanent resident status she and her daughter had has been terminated, said the State Department.
"Are we losing so badly we need to arrest the distant relatives of long-since-dead Iranian commanders?" asked Ryan Grim of Drop Site News.
Aaron Reichlin-Melnick of the American Immigration Council noted that the administration had used the same legal authority to arrest Soleimani's reported family members as it did to detain former Columbia University student organizer Mahmoud Khalil and Tufts University scholar Rümeysa Öztürk for speaking out against US support for Israel—a tactic which is being challenged in court as unconstitutional.
Far-right conspiracy theorist Laura Loomer, who has wielded influence in the White House during the second Trump administration, claimed credit for the arrest of the two women, saying that in communications with the State Department, she had "exposed the fact that Qasem Soleimani’s Niece Hamideh Soleimani Afshar has been living in the United States (Los Angeles, California) where she posts pro-Iranian regime and pro-IRGC content on her social media while she lives a life of luxury."
"She has been arrested and will be deported back to Iran!" she added. "Over the last few months, I have quietly been documenting all of Hamideh Soleimani Afshar’s social media activity. I uploaded it all to a secure file and shared it with [the Department of Homeland Security] and Department of State, and now she has been arrested and she will be deported from our country."
In Iran on Saturday, media outlets were reporting that the two women arrested by US Immigration and Customs Enforcement were not related to Soleimani—who had no nieces, according to journalist Kourosh Ziabari.
Soleimani's daughter told the news outlet Jamaran that "none" of her extended family has ever lived in the US.
Regardless of the women's relation to Soleimani or lack thereof, journalist Ryan Grim said the arbitrary arrest "actively puts innocent Americans around the world at risk."
Rubio's explanation for the detention and his move to revoke the women's green cards is the latest evidence that "the US is now deporting people for thought crimes," said historian Zachary Foster.
Journalist Sana Saeed said the case shows that constitutional protections for due process and free speech, which are supposed to apply to green card holders, "no longer mean anything."
"People cannot lose their green card status simply because of familial relationships, so the justification shifts here to their alleged support for the Iranian government," said Saeed. "But supporting a foreign government is not a criminal offense. And if you begin to treat it as one—as the US government effectively is in this case—then expect a lot more of this."
"It will not stop here, and it will not remain limited to Iranians," she said. "The logic does not contain itself, it expands."
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Cuba Operating on Fumes While Marco Rubio Smirks
It’s doubly ironic that Rubio who thinks he knows so much about Cuba has been to Cuba only once, for only one day visiting the American prison at the US naval base at Guantanamo, Cuba.
Apr 01, 2026
As 700 international solidarity citizens visited Cuba last weekend, Cuban-American Secretary of State Marco Rubio smirked at the humanitarian disaster his and Trump’s policies were wrecking on Cuba, as small island nation of 9 million people only 90 miles off the tip of Florida. Rubio had predicted the Cuban government would fall from the disastrous policies, particularly the blockade of fuel to the island.
But Rubio’s plan was partially upended on Sunday night, when President Trump decided to allow a Russian oil tanker carrying 100 tons of oil to deliver it to Cuba.
International Citizens Solidarity with Cuba, While Nations Turn Their Backs on Cuba
Last weekend, I was in Cuba for the second time in two months, joining 700 international solidarity citizens from 30 countries. Organized in less than six weeks by Progressive International, CODEPINK: Women For Peace, and many other groups, hundreds of persons outraged about the latest US punishment of the Cuban people saw very quickly and deeply the inhumane effects of the recent oil embargo as well as the cumulative effects of a 65-year-old US economic blockade of Cuba.
On my first trip this year, in late January 2026, the capital city of Havana, where we spent most of our time, was showing definite signs of the negative effects of the blockade, particularly of the fuel shortage.
Six weeks later in mid-March, the lack of fuel was starkly evident. Very few cars were on the streets. Lines for the few buses with fuel were very long.
Cubans were cooking with wood in the parks as electricity was sporadic.
Electrical blackouts of the entire country were frequent.
Hospital generators were almost out of fuel.
Cuba Operating on Fumes
Aiming directly at Mexico, Trump’s January 29, 2026 executive order threatened heavy tariffs on “any other country that directly or indirectly sells or otherwise provides any oil to Cuba.” PEMEX, the Mexico state oil company, has been the primary supplier of oil to Cuba after the kidnapping of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro in January. Sadly, bending to Washington’s threat, with only two to three weeks left of oil in Cuba at the time of the executive order, the Mexican government suspended shipments of oil to keep the country running.
While rumors abounded of Russia sending an oil tanker to Cuba, no ship was in sight until Sunday.
In the meantime, Cuba is operating on fumes.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio Willing to Torpedo the Entire Country of Cuba
It is ironic that Cuban-American Rubio has US citizenship through the “birthright law” that he and the Trump administration are trying to eliminate. The US Supreme Court is hearing arguments on Rubio’s case for torpedoing the birthright law on April 1.
Rubio was born in the US of non-U.S. citizen parents who fled the Baptista regime before the Cuban revolution against Baptista. Finally, journalists delved into his background years after Rubio entered politics and he was forced to acknowledge his “birthright” citizenship something he had kept hidden.
It’s doubly ironic that Rubio who thinks he knows so much about Cuba has been to Cuba only once, for only one day visiting the American prison at the US naval base at Guantanamo, Cuba.
Rubio grew up in Miami in midst of the fervent anti-revolution rhetoric and actions. He quickly saw that his political future rested with being as anti-revolution as possible, despite the strides in health and education that were being made in Cuba.
U.S. Government, not the Cuban Government, Holding up Compensation of US Citizens and Corporations from 1959 Nationalization
In his many years in Florida state politics and then as a US senator, Rubio refused to acknowledge that it was the US government that stopped compensation of US individuals and corporations when the revolutionary government nationalized services for the people to take them from the hands of the private sector that was getting richer and richer off the backs of the poverty stricken and enslaved Cubans.
After the 1959 revolution, Cuba negotiated “lump sum” compensation packages with Canada, Switzerland, the United Kingdom, Spain, and France for individuals and corporations whose property had been nationalized.
The United States, however, refused to participate in the compensation plan for US individuals and businesses. Instead, the US decided efforts to overthrow the revolutionary Cuban government would be its strategy.
Today, 65-years later, in order to attract US private investment to Cuba, Cuban Deputy Foreign Minister Carlos Fernández de Cossio told Drop Site News that the Cuban government will attempt to convince the US government to agree to a “lump sum” to handle the claims of approximately 6,000 US individuals and businesses who have filed claims for nationalized property, as a part of a larger agreement that would eliminate US sanctions and the economic blockade. The claims that have been certified by US Foreign Claims settlement Commission initially totaled $1.9 billion but now with interest accumulated over the decades amount to around $9 billion.
Trump’s “Change of Heart” to Let Oil Come Into Cuba
On an evening flight of Air Force One on Sunday, President Trump said to reporters: "I told them if a country wants to send some oil into Cuba right now, I have no problem with that, whether it's Russia or not. Whether or not they get a boat of oil, it’s not going to matter. I'd prefer letting it in, whether it’s Russia or anybody else, because the people need heat and cooling and everything else."
The Russian-owned oil tanker Anatoly Kolodkin left Primorsk, Russia on March 8 carrying 730,000 barrels of crude oil (100,000 tons) and is expected to dock at the Matanzas, Cuba oil storage facility on the morning of April 1. The tanker was accompanied by a Russian naval escort through the English Channel. The oil will be processed at one of Cuba’s three refineries, located in Havana, Cienfuegos, and Santiago.
When questioned about the oil delivery, Russian government spokesman Dmitry Peskov said, “The brutal blockade is jeopardizing life-support systems and electricity generation” and inhibiting the ability of Cubans to provide medical services. “Russia considers it its duty not to stand idly by and to provide the necessary assistance to our Cuban friends.”
International Group Visits Cuba in Solidarity with the Cuban People
The international delegations last week with over 700 persons were a part of a globalized effort called the Nuestra América Convoy organized by Progressive International. Hundreds of people came to Cuba from Latin America, the United States, Canada, and Europe to denounce the US blockade on Cuba and deliver life-saving aid to the Cuban people.
CODEPINK’s Nuestra América Convoy delegation of 170 people brought together a politically diverse but deeply aligned group of people—healthcare workers, lawyers, professors, students, veterans, labor organizers, journalists, independent media workers, photographers, filmmakers, writers, artists, researchers, faith-based activists, immigrant justice organizers, reproductive justice advocates, Palestine solidarity activists, Black liberation organizers, cultural workers, and more.
CODEPINK’s delegation delivered 6,300 pounds of urgently needed medicines and medical supplies, including neonatal equipment, analgesics, catheters, and other critical hospital materials. The supplies, valued at $433,000, were collected by Global Health Partners.
In addition to the several tons of medical aid, delegates brought suitcases containing supplies tailored to the needs of specific groups affected by the blockade, such as LGBTQ+ people, artists, students, animals, and others.
In total, the Nuestra America convoy delivered:
- More than $400,000 of humanitarian supplies on a charter flight, including medical equipment, medicines, staple foods, infant nutrition products, and hygiene supplies, coordinated by CODEPINK.
- Over $500,000 worth of solar panels and generators to support hospitals and essential infrastructure facing electricity shortages.
- Over 2000 pounds of medical supplies from Europe, carried by a medical delegation travelling from Milan, Italy.
- Cancer medicines valued at $23,000 organized by Global Exchange.
- Around 1100 pounds of medical supplies from Brazil, coordinated by the Brazilian Front of Solidarity with Cuba.
- Solar-powered equipment from Colombia, including solar chargers and lighting systems.
- Menstrual health kits for approximately 1,300 women, organized by a solidarity coalition in Mexico.
- $100,000 in aid for maternity centers.
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