Florida Sen. Marco Rubio is urging the Federal Communications Commission to deny a request to extend a submarine internet cable connection between South Florida and Cuba, the first of its kind, because of the risk that the Cuban government could use it for intelligence purposes.
A committee led by the Justice Department comprising the Department of Homeland Security and the Defense Department has already recommended that the FCC deny the application, citing the counterintelligence threat posed by Cuba.
If approved, the cable extension would link North Miami Beach and Cojimar, a coastal town east of Havana, as part of ARCOS-1, a network of submarine cables connecting 15 countries, including the United States and several nations in the Caribbean, Central and South America.
