STEVE INSKEEP, HOST:
President Trump, apparently, is in an expansive mood.
MICHEL MARTIN, HOST:
In other words, he's talking again about expanding the United States. Venezuela's team won a World Baseball tournament last night, defeating Team USA, and the president responded on social media by promoting the South American nation as the 51st state. If you can't beat them, join them, or make them join you. The U.S. recently deposed Venezuela's leader and appears to be dictating terms to the new one.
INSKEEP: Trump has also been talking about taking over Cuba, and there's a connection. Cuba depended on Venezuelan oil that the United States has stopped.
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PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: Cuba right now is in very bad shape. They're talking to Marco, and we'll be doing something with Cuba very soon.
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Mr. President.
INSKEEP: Marco is Secretary of State Marco Rubio. So what is the something that the president wants to do? In a moment, we will hear from a Republican member of Congress who is Cuban American, Maria Salazar. We start with the latest from the White House. NPR White House correspondent Franco Ordoñez has been trying to read the clues. Franco, good morning.
FRANCO ORDOÑEZ, BYLINE: Good morning, Steve.
INSKEEP: What's the president been saying, first of all?
ORDOÑEZ: Yeah. I mean, earlier this month, Trump raised the idea of a friendly takeover of Cuba, you know, signaling some kind of regime change. The secretary of state, Marco Rubio, has also been in talks with leaders in Havana about opening up the government. And actually, Rubio yesterday at the White House spoke of both economic changes, but also the need for shakeup of Cuban leadership.
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MARCO RUBIO: The bottom line is their economy doesn't work. It's a nonfunctional economy. It's an economy that has survived its - for 40 - that revolution - it's not even a revolution. That thing they have has survived on subsidies from the Soviet Union and now from Venezuela. They don't get subsidies anymore. So they're in a lot of trouble. And the people in charge are in - they don't know how to fix it, and so they had to get new people in charge.
ORDOÑEZ: Now, Rubio does say, however, that it is important to be realistic and that Cuba doesn't need to change all at once.
INSKEEP: Ah, interesting. So what are some possible scenarios here?
ORDOÑEZ: Well, this week, actually, Steve, is the 10-year anniversary of when former President Barack Obama visited Cuba to celebrate his deal with Havana that opened up relations between the two nations. I called Mark Feierstein, who was at the Obama White House, and he told me he sees what's shaping up as some kind of Obama 2.0 deal.
MARK FEIERSTEIN: And the difference, of course, is that Cuba is much more vulnerable now. United States has a lot more leverage. But the contours of an agreement, I think, look a lot like what Obama and the Cubans agreed to 10 years ago, which was basically the Cubans opening up the economy, releasing political prisoners, pledging to ease oppression and, in turn, United States lifting sanctions.
ORDOÑEZ: At the time, Feierstein says the Cubans didn't go far enough, and that has basically led them to this point today, where they are very much more vulnerable.
INSKEEP: So you can look back to that example, Franco, but Obama's agendas seem to have to do with democracy, human rights, which are not things that President Trump has emphasized.
ORDOÑEZ: Yeah. I mean, that's definitely right. But Rubio has cared about these issues a lot when it comes to Cuba. He is the son of Cuban immigrants, and he has long called for changes in regime in Cuba.
INSKEEP: Which of course is true of a lot of people in South Florida, where it happens that the president lives.
ORDOÑEZ: Yeah, it is. And Trump has talked very nostalgically about Cuba recently. This is a big deal in South Florida, and Trump also has friends and advisers who care about Cuba. He's complimented the real estate. You know, he's talked, you know, favorably about the political benefits he has from the community. And at an event earlier this month celebrating the Major League Soccer champions, Inter Miami, Trump actually turned to the co-owner of the team, Jorge Mas, whose family is from Cuba, and Trump said Mas will soon be able to go back to Cuba and that they would celebrate soon. And he also said that would be a great day.
INSKEEP: NPR White House correspondent Franco Ordoñez. Franco, thank you so much.
ORDOÑEZ: Thank you, Steve. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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