FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
June 2, 2026
Media Contact: Melissa Garriga | [email protected]
“Repent, Marco Rubio!” CODEPINK Disrupts Secretary of State’s Senate Testimony, Demands End to Cuba Sanctions
WASHINGTON, D.C. – CODEPINK disrupted Secretary of State Marco Rubio’s testimony before the Senate Foreign Affairs Committee this morning, calling on Rubio to repent for his role in the suffering and deaths of the Cuban people.
Long-time CODEPINK peace advocate Tighe Barry, dressed as a priest, stood and shouted during Rubio’s opening remarks:
“Pope Leo says Let Cuba Live! Marco Rubio: Let Cuba live! The sanctions are murdering Cubans! Repent! Repent, Marco Rubio! Marco Rubio, stop killing Cubans!”
Barry was quickly detained, removed from the hearing room, and arrested by security personnel. The disruption aimed to draw attention to the impact of U.S. economic sanctions and the ongoing blockade of Cuba, policies designed to strangle the island economically, deprive people of food, fuel, medicine, and basic necessities, and make daily life unbearable.
“Marco Rubio is murdering his own people. He’s never been to Cuba. He’s never seen the children in the schools like I have. The sanctions are murdering people. There’s an oil embargo on Cuba that’s keeping people in the dark 24 hours a day. It’s horrible the way they’re treating the Cuban people. This is a war crime,” explained Barry as he was being arrested.
“Rubio, stop murdering your own people. Let Cuba live!” he continued.
Rubio’s policies have caused catastrophic shortages of medicine, electricity, and transportation, which have led to a public health crisis that hits children and the elderly hardest. Infant mortality in Cuba has recently doubled. These policies are literally killing babies. Beyond this suffering, the Trump administration is making reckless threats of a U.S. invasion of Cuba - a path to chaos, violence, and mass migration.
Year after year, the world overwhelmingly condemns the U.S. blockade at the United Nations. It’s time to lift the blockade, normalize relations, and let the Cuban people determine their own future.
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