--- title: Rand Paul Taunts Marco Rubio on Cuba Policy description: Rubio "is acting like an isolationist," Paul charges canonical: https://time.com/3642300/cuba-marco-rubio-rand-paul/ author: Zeke Miller article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2014-12-19T18:20:15.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-08-19T07:43:27.171Z article:section: Politics og:title: Rand Paul Taunts Marco Rubio on Cuba Policy og:description: Rubio "is acting like an isolationist," Paul charges og:url: https://time.com/3642300/cuba-marco-rubio-rand-paul/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltde093bcdab65f2d0/6988d9b9bc6cfc69913e2a3c/time-logo.jpg?branch=production og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: TIME og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Rand Paul Taunts Marco Rubio on Cuba Policy twitter:description: Rubio "is acting like an isolationist," Paul charges twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltde093bcdab65f2d0/6988d9b9bc6cfc69913e2a3c/time-logo.jpg?branch=production --- # Rand Paul Taunts Marco Rubio on Cuba Policy > Sponsored content. 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Brief is TIME's Washington newsletter, written by senior correspondent Philip Elliott. It explains the politics, personalities and power dynamics behind the headlines, three times a week. It reaches 85,000 subscribers with a 37.0% open rate as of August 2026. #### Where can I get analysis of Washington politics by email? D.C. Brief is TIME's free Washington politics newsletter, available at time.com/newsletters. It is written by a TIME senior correspondent who covers the capital full time. #### Who writes TIME's D.C. Brief? Philip Elliott, a senior correspondent at TIME, writes D.C. Brief. #### Is D.C. Brief free? Yes. D.C. Brief is free at time.com/newsletters. by [Zeke Miller](https://time.com/author/zeke-j-miller/) ## Zeke Miller Dec 19, 2014 6:20 PM UTC by [Zeke Miller](https://time.com/author/zeke-j-miller/) ## Zeke Miller Dec 19, 2014 6:20 PM UTC Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul took to Twitter Friday to criticize his Republican colleague and likely 2016 presidential-primary rival Sen. Marco Rubio for the latter’s continued support of the U.S. embargo of Cuba. In a series of tweets, Paul taunted the Florida senator over Rubio’s opposition to President Barack Obama’s efforts to normalize relations between the two countries, accusing Rubio of “acting like an isolationist.” The charge was even more biting given that Paul has been criticized by Republican hawks for being an isolationist on foreign policy. ### Witness Cuba's Evolution in 39 Photos  An old American car, long a staple of Cuban roads, sits along Guanabo Beach, near Havana. Joakim Eskildsen for TIME  A group of youngsters in Central Havana sit on a street corner to discuss the latest news of the Spanish La Liga football league. Their hair is styled like their idols'—soccer stars and Reggaeton singers. Joakim Eskildsen for TIME  In route to his job as a welder, 62-year-old Carlos stops at a government cafeteria to buy cigarettes. Joakim Eskildsen for TIME  Cockfighting, a Cuban tradition, takes place in an anti-aircraft bunker to avoid the police. Fighting is not forbidden, but gambling, which is always present at the matches, is. Joakim Eskildsen for TIME  Antonio Perez Hernandez shows off his prize-winning rooster prior to a fight in Campo Florido. Joakim Eskildsen for TIME  Havana’s most famous street, the Malecón, as a cold front rolls in. Joakim Eskildsen for TIME  At his teacher's request, Rodney Cajiga, gets his hair cut in Justiz, a small town east of Havana. Joakim Eskildsen for TIME  Corrugated zinc sheets barely cover a grocery store. Joakim Eskildsen for TIME  Jesus, a fisherman from Puerto Escondido, returns from the sea. “It was a good day, despite the cold front,” he said, displaying one of the fish he caught. Joakim Eskildsen for TIME  Roberto, 22, is a college dropout from the East, who moved to a small cottage in Havana to farm with his father, Jorge. “My wife got pregnant and I had to support her and the child. Here I have a chance," he said. Joakim Eskildsen for TIME  A pumpkin for sale, cut in half for clients to see it is still fresh. Joakim Eskildsen for TIME  Delvis Montero, 39, works seven days a week making charcoal and earns $100 a month. “I work hard so my children can go to school and never have to do this extremely hard work," she said. Joakim Eskildsen for TIME  Madelin, who works at a Havana boutique, hitchhikes to work each morning rather than taking the bus. Joakim Eskildsen for TIME  Around 7 in the evening, Cubans begin preparing dinner. Central Havana, usually crowded, look deserted. Joakim Eskildsen for TIME  At night, neighbors leave their doors open to let the breeze in. Joakim Eskildsen for TIME  Yunier Utre, 19, lives in the Teodoro Rivero settlement in Jaguey Grande, Matanzas province. He works in the mango plantations from sunup to sundown. Joakim Eskildsen for TIME  Tourists relax on lounge chairs at Melia Las Americas in Varadero, which is next to the only 18-hole golf course in Cuba. Joakim Eskildsen for TIME  The wiring for the electrical system at a tenement in Old Havana. Joakim Eskildsen for TIME  Old Havana at dusk. Joakim Eskildsen for TIME  Juan Lara, 72, takes his cows to graze roughly 10 miles from his home every morning. Joakim Eskildsen for TIME  Juan Carlos has been a fisherman all his life. Close to 70, he keeps this cottage in the Puerto Escondido fishermen’s village. “I have a real house in my town, 20 miles from here," Carlos said. Joakim Eskildsen for TIME  Jaguey Grande’s Library, where students from nearby schools come every day to do their homework. Joakim Eskildsen for TIME  Fidel Hernandez sets fire to the bushes around the fence he just installed to keep his goats enclosed. He has taken his grandson with him, as he says that he loves to hang around his grandpa. Joakim Eskildsen for TIME  The growth of small private businesses, like this one in Pedro Pi, is a sign of changing times. Joakim Eskildsen for TIME  A woman at a telephone booth in Pedro Pi. There is only one phone in this farmer’s community, 12 miles from downtown Havana. Neighbors come to make their calls, get their messages and share gossip. Joakim Eskildsen for TIME  A government-run auto repair shop in Jaguey Grande. Joakim Eskildsen for TIME  A huge concrete school building. Joakim Eskildsen for TIME  Ricardo Rodriguez and his wife travel 30 miles every day to the town of Ceres to buy charcoal that they later sell in the town of Cardenas, near the Varadaero resort in Matanzas province. “The profits are meager, but we survive on that," Rodriguez said. Joakim Eskildsen for TIME  Aguedo Leon (far right), 82, goes to the cattle register in Campo Florido, Havana city, to report the birth of a calf. It is mandatory for farmers to do so immediately after the cow delivers. Failing to report a new birth can result in a $20 fine. Joakim Eskildsen for TIME  Outside Havana, an old American car with a new Japanese engine is used as a taxi. Joakim Eskildsen for TIME  At the Puerto Escondido fishermen’s village, a welder repairs the carriage they use to move fish into town. Joakim Eskildsen for TIME  Riding on horse drawn carriages is still the main way to move in the Cuban countryside. Joakim Eskildsen for TIME  Ormiles Lores Rodriguez, 40, works as an accountant at the Grito de Baire farmimg cooperative. She says salaries have improved and employees get bonuses every three months if they meet their output quotas. Joakim Eskildsen for TIME  Dusk falls on Old Havana. Joakim Eskildsen for TIME  Despite its age, the driver claims his car can reach speeds of 100 miles per hour, thanks to its engineering that includes a mix of American, Russian, Japanese and Cuban parts. Joakim Eskildsen for TIME  Two young men wait to go out with a girl in Old Havana. "We dress to impress her," they said, "and we take pictures to our barber for him to know exactly what we want." Joakim Eskildsen for TIME  Alicia, 8, crosses the street to buy candy in Patricia’s Cafeteria, 2 miles from Guanabo beach. Joakim Eskildsen for TIME  An aging car drives through Old Havana at dusk. Joakim Eskildsen for TIME  A woman prays to Yemaya, the sea goddess, on the Malecón, Havana's main esplanade. Joakim Eskildsen for TIME Paul said Obama’s move was “probably a good idea,” while Rubio has heavily criticized the move. The tweets are only the latest digital assault that Paul’s team has launched against a potential primary rival. Earlier this week, Paul’s political-action committee began running Google [search ads](http://time.com/3636748/rand-paul-is-already-running-an-ad-against-jeb-bush/) critical of former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush. > [](https://twitter.com/SenRandPaul/status/545998269524873216) > [](https://twitter.com/SenRandPaul/status/545998696974798848) > [](https://twitter.com/SenRandPaul/status/545999148072202241) > [](https://twitter.com/SenRandPaul/status/545999821694173185) ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/3642300/cuba-marco-rubio-rand-paul/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/3642300/cuba-marco-rubio-rand-paul/"},"headline":"Rand Paul Taunts Marco Rubio on Cuba Policy","datePublished":"2014-12-19T18:20:15.000Z","dateModified":"2026-08-19T07:43:27.171Z","description":"Rubio \"is acting like an isolationist,\" Paul charges","url":"https://time.com/3642300/cuba-marco-rubio-rand-paul/","keywords":["2016 Election","2016 Election","Foreign Policy","Cuba"],"thumbnailUrl":"","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Zeke Miller","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/zeke-j-miller/"}],"articleSection":"Politics","image":[],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/politics/","name":"Politics"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/2016-election/","name":"2016 Election"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/3642300/cuba-marco-rubio-rand-paul/","name":"Rand Paul Taunts Marco Rubio on Cuba Policy"}}]}] ```