Rubio vote on ambassador perturbs Puerto Ricans

Florida Sen. Marco Rubio's opposition to confirming a U.S. ambassador to El Salvador could do further damage to his hoped-for role as a Republican bridge to Hispanic voters.

This week, Rubio voted against confirming Mari Carmen Aponte, said to be the first Puerto Rican woman ever appointed a U.S. ambassador, citing objections to Obama administration policies in Latin America.

An angry political exchange ensued between Rubio and national Democrats. The issue could reverberate during next year's campaign, particularly in the large, swing-voting Puerto Rican community of Central Florida.

Democrats accused Rubio of putting the Republican goal of frustrating President Barack Obama ahead of his own Hispanic constituency. The White House said Senate Republicans were "choosing to play politics with America's national interests."

Rubio shot back that it was the Democrats playing politics, and canceled planned meetings with high-level administration officials to discuss the appointment.

A Rubio spokesman called it "outrageous that the administration and their allies would inject partisan and ethnic politics into a very serious policy matter."

Many Republicans hope Rubio, widely seen as the top GOP choice for a presidential running mate next year, can help undercut the Democrats' large advantage among Hispanic voters.

However, it's the second time Rubio, a Cuban-American, has opposed a high-level government post for a Puerto Rican. In 2009, while a Senate candidate, he opposed the nomination of then-Circuit Judge Sonia Sotomayor, a Bronx native of Puerto Rican descent, to the Supreme Court. She became the nation's first Hispanic justice.

"Hispanics aren't homogeneous. Ethnic identity politics is pretty important," and Puerto Ricans tend to resent Cuban political influence, said University of Central Florida political scientist Aubrey Jewett. "I would say he'll have to mend some fences in that community."

Central Florida Hispanic population growth has been so great it's likely to result in a new, heavily Hispanic congressional district.

"This was such a good opportunity for Marco Rubio to show that he supports the Puerto Rican community," said state Rep. Darren Soto, an Orlando Democrat, in a Democratic Party-sponsored news conference call Tuesday on Rubio's vote.

"He could have shown he was willing to cross party lines to support us. When he comes down here with a presidential nominee, he's going to try to tell Central Florida Hispanics how party doesn't matter, but he took the party line."

Soto called it "another casualty in operation sabotage, in their attempt to try to take back the White House."

Aponte has been serving more than a year under a recess appointment, but Senate Republicans mustered 37 votes to block her confirmation Monday night. With 60 favorable votes needed to stop a GOP filibuster, there were 49.

Soto said Aponte has been a success in El Salvador, helping start negotiations in the nation's civil war, in part by bringing Sotomayor there for a visit.

Republicans criticized her for writing a pro-gay rights editorial for a Salvadoran newspaper last summer, and because she once dated a man linked to the Cuban intelligence service.

Backers noted the FBI cleared her of any links to Cuban intelligence when then-President Bill Clinton nominated her ambassador to the Dominican Republic in the 1990s, and later granted her top security clearances; and that the editorial was written under instructions from the State Department.

Rubio gave different reasons. He has said he intends to oppose all Western Hemisphere nominations because of objections to administration policies in the region, said spokesman Alex Conant.

Rubio told the administration he would back Aponte if there were progress in one area, the recent re-election of Nicaraguan President Daniel Ortega, who helped lead the Sandinista civil war against the ruling Somoza family there in the 1970s.

Conant said there were "widespread reports of fraud" in the election, but the administration didn't react.

He said Rubio wanted the administration to make "an unambiguous statement on the undemocratic character" of the elections, oppose multilateral loans to Nicaragua and to seek suspension of Nicaragua from the Organization of American states.

Rubio broke off the discussions after the criticism Tuesday, canceling a planned meeting with Undersecretary of State Wendy Sherman.

"It's clear in light of the (Democratic Party) attacks the administration would rather play politics than address Senator Rubio's legitimate policy concerns," Conant said.

Emilio Perez of Orlando, former president of the Puerto Rican Chamber of Commerce, said the Rubio vote is making waves among Puerto Ricans.

Some Puerto Rican Republicans, as well as Democrats, are writing letters to Rubio in protest, said Perez, a no-party voter.

"They're very upset (over) seeing the Cuban-American leadership always going against the Puerto Rican community," he said. "We have a great relationship with Aponte … some respect and love for this lady," who was formerly head of the Puerto Rico Federal Affairs Administration, with an Orlando office.

But Rubio isn't without Puerto Rican friends of his own. He's an ally, for example, of Puerto Rican Gov. Luis Fortuno.