Michael Crowley

He announced his campaign at what is known as the Freedom Tower in Miami.

Which was the first stop for those Cuban refugees to sort of announce their arrival in the U.S.

That's right.

This is at the core of his personal and political identity.

And I think that for him, possibly even more than for President Trump, getting rid of the current Cuban government would be a sort of crowning legacy achievement that would make him feel like his political career had all been worth it.

It's all been kind of working toward this, if he can get it.

Well, you've seen this incredible focus by the Trump administration on the Western hemisphere, and in particular, Latin America.

And Rubio really spearheaded the Trump administration's pressure on Venezuela's leader, Nicolas Maduro, which ultimately led to Maduro's capture in early January.

Now, this actually goes straight to the Cuba question that we're talking about.

I know from my reporting that Rubio has made a very explicit connection between bringing down Maduro and bringing down the Cuban government.

The thinking is that Venezuela and Cuba became very close allies over the past few decades.

The Cubans provided Venezuelans with military training and intelligence, and the Venezuelans were shipping large amounts of oil

to Cuba.

Cuba doesn't have a lot of oil suppliers.

So Rubio's calculus was if you can get rid of Maduro and cut off those Cuban oil supplies to Havana, that is a huge blow that brings you a lot closer to bringing down the Cuban government.

That's right.

I think for Rubio, probably the most important thing about what's happening in Venezuela right now is that we have forced Venezuela to stop shipping oil to Cuba.

Right.

And to lose such a key nearby ally and an oil supplier in Venezuela is a major development and a really bad one for the Cubans.

On top of that, the Trump administration is pressuring other countries to not step in and come to the rescue of the Cubans.