In a sign of the seriousness with which Senator Marco Rubio is being mentioned as a potential Vice Presidential pick, the Washington Post dug into the story he tells about his family’s history and found it not to be true.
It turns out his parents came to America when Batista was in power, not Castro. They were normal immigrants, not exiles, although they decided that they did not want to return to Cuba once the socialist government was in power.
No big deal, but it’s odd that this statement remains in Rubio’s bio on his Senate website: “In 1971, Marco was born in Miami to Cuban-born parents who came to America following Fidel Castro's takeover.”
I'm not surprised that he would bend the truth to make himself look more favorable to the exile community, but he was stupid to make an outright lie. He could have very easily said "born to Cuban exiles" and left it at that, which would could have been argued to be true if he said his parents had hopes of returning to Cuba someday.
ReplyDeleteHe may be covering a lie with another lie, as he now says his mother returned to Cuba in 1961 and his father was to follow, but they changed their mind.
ReplyDeleteIt doesn't seen likely that Cubans with US residency would choose to return to Cuba in 1961 at the same time everyone else was leaving. It's more likely his mother was there to visit, but I guess he knows nobody can prove their intentions 50 years ago. It would be interesting to know how his father was "wrapping up his affairs" for his return to Cuba.
Shouldn't be long before someone finds a quote where he states his parents "had to" flee Cuba, which wouldn't be true.
Marco Rubio now says that he was not certain of the year his parents left Cuba, and that it really does not change his story of being the proud son of exiles. Really? His parents fled Cuba just as Fidel did to get away from Batista. To say that when they left is not an important part of the Miami-Cuban exile story is a lie.
ReplyDeleteThe statement by Rubio was a lie, plan and simple. The USA is in one of the toughest periods in its history. We need elected officials who are honest and forthright. Personally, I never found Rubio appealing but now, he will never get my vote on a national ticket.
ReplyDeleteWell, he is still born from Cuban exiles...running away from Batista. Then, he has some explanation to do about his close ties to Rosa Blanca's promoter Lincoln Diaz Balart.
ReplyDeleteOmar
Well, he now changed the tune on his website. It now states he was born to "Cuban exiles, who first arrived from Cuba in 1956". The thing is they were immigrants, not exiles and that's when they came to the US. The did not go back to Cuba, except his mother was there visiting for a few weeks in 1961.
ReplyDeletegee, he lied about his parent's exile status, all to gain cred in the Cuban American community. Now there's a contradiction of terms, like army intelligence.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-x_ZTsabXkY Cuban Exiles in Tampa 1957
ReplyDeletethis is the type of Cuban exiles before 1959 members and supporters of Castro's Movimiento 26 de Julio
The bottom line is that he knows there is a distinction of leaving Cuba before or after 1959 and the fact that he hasn't made an effort to clarify that fact in the past, and at the very least let people believe his family fled Cuba, shows he is dishonest. But then again, he is a politician so what do you expect?
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