Florida Senator Marco Rubio is making his first trip to Cuba on Tuesday to tour the U.S. base and prison at Guantanamo Bay.
According to TheHill.com, Rubio is taking the trip to conduct oversight of the facility and his tour includes a look at the facility where military tribunals are held. He will also be meeting with Rear Admiral Jeffrey Harbeson, Guantanamo's Joint Task Force commander.
In 2011, Rubio, a Republican, co-sponsored legislation to keep the Guantanamo prison open due to concerns over the activities of detainees after they are released from the prison. The prison currently holds hundreds of foreign detainees of the U.S. government, many who were captured in Afghanistan since Al-Qaeda's attack on New York and the Pentagon in 2001.
According to ABC News, Rubio's trip begins at the Expeditionary Legal Complex (ELC), where military tribunals of detainees recently began. The ELC provides full access to sensitive and classified information, full access to defense lawyers and prosecution, and full media access by the press.
After, Rubio will be taken to the Joint Task Force (JTF) Guantanamo headquarters where he will receive an intelligence overview and hold open discussions with JTF personnel about the different functions conducted at the facility. Such functions include intelligence collection, analysis, and dissemination in support of ongoing overseas contingency operations and to the Office of Military Commissions.
After the JTF, Rubio will meet with Harbeson before touring Camp VI, the building in which detainees are actually held. He will then be returning to Miami at approximately 5:15 pm EDT on Tuesday.
Rubio, whose parents emigrated from Cuba in 1956, will not be leaving the military base during his trip. This trip represents the first time Rubio visits the island. He was born in Miami and
was a member of the Florida House of Representatives from 2000-2009 before running for the U.S. Senate. He won the election in 2010 over Democratic candidate Kendrick Meek and Independent Candidate Charlie Crist. According to TheHill.com, Rubio has been rumored as a potential running mate for Republican candidate Mitt Romney. However, according to Foxnews, Rubio has denied such claims.