Trump's week in review: Tulsi Gabbard resigns; Rededicate 250; another batch of UFO files released

3. Marco Rubio delivers speech to Cuban people

In a speech Wednesday to commemorate Cuba’s Independence Day, U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio highlighted Trump’s commitment to “a new avenue between the United States and a new Cuba.”

Rubio’s remarks come as Cuba has spent decades under Communist Party rule, resulting in power outages, food shortages and repression of regime opponents.

Rubio, a Cuban American, outlined the administration’s vision for “a new Cuba" where they have “the real opportunity to elect those who govern their country and vote to replace them if they are not doing a good job.”

“In the United States, we are ready to open a new chapter in the relationship between our people and our countries, and currently the only thing standing in the way of a better future are those who control their country,” he added.

As Rubio indicated during his address, relations between the U.S. and Cuba remain strained, and the Communist regime blames the U.S. for the nation’s problems.

Rubio rejected that claim.

“The reason they are forced to survive 22 hours a day without electricity is not because of an oil blockade by the United States,” he insisted.

The top U.S. diplomat pledged to provide “$100 million in food and medicine for you, the people” that can't be delivered by the Cuban government but "has to be distributed directly to the Cuban people by the Catholic Church or other trusted charitable groups."