The Diplomat
Cuban-born Republican Senator Marco Rubio announced on Tuesday that he has blocked the nomination of Julissa Reynoso as US ambassador to Spain on the grounds that she is “an apologist for the Castro regime” and “would not press Spain to increase pressure against the authoritarian regimes in Cuba, Nicaragua and Venezuela”.
Reynoso, who was chief of staff to First Lady Jill Biden, was the person chosen by President Joe Biden to head the embassy in Madrid, which has been vacant since January.
“Julissa Reynoso Pantaleón is a sympathiser and apologist for the Castro regime who should not be in our government,” said Rubio, who is also vice-chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee and ranking member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.
The senator pointed to the “direct involvement” of Bidean’s nominee for ambassador to Spain in “helping to exchange imprisoned members of the Cuban regime’s intelligence service while they were serving a sentence in an American prison during Obama and Castro’s appeasement policy”, which, in his opinion “raises serious questions about her character and judgement”.
“However, there is one thing of which I am absolutely certain: Reynoso would not press Spain to increase pressure against the authoritarian regimes in Cuba, Nicaragua and Venezuela. In fact, he will probably give Spain a pass for turning a blind eye,” he said, according to a statement from his team.
He added that the US needs “someone who is committed to freedom and human rights, not a delegate of dictators”.
To be confirmed to the post, Reynoso must be ratified in a vote in the House Foreign Relations Committee and later in the full Senate.
Rubio’s block means that her nomination will not be put to a vote in the full Senate and is stalled for the time being.
