In his remarks to the Foreign Policy Initative on Friday morning, Sen. Marco Rubio blasted the Obama administration's new policy moves on Cuba, as well as Friday's flag ceremony at the U.S. Embassy, as being nothing but helpful to the brutal Castro regime:

"As a symbol of just how backward this policy shift has turned out to be, not a single Cuban dissident has been invited to today's official flag-raising ceremony at the new U.S. Embassy in Havana. Cuban dissidents have fought for decades for the very democratic principles President Obama claims to be advancing through these concessions. Their exclusion from this event has ensured that it will be little more than a propaganda ralLY for the Castro regime."

On Fox News, Rubio reiterated his position. "All the people in Cuba fighting for democracy, when they protest, they are rounded up, arrested and beaten," he said. "None of them were invited to this event."

The event took place this morning as John Kerry, the first secretary of state to officially visit Cuba since 1945, preened for the cameras.