WASHINGTON – Former Republican presidential candidate Marco Rubio announced Wednesday he will run for re-election to the Senate from Florida, reversing his retirement plans under pressure from GOP leaders determined to hang onto his seat and Senate control.
“In politics, admitting you’ve changed your mind is not something most people like to do. But here it goes,” Rubio said. “I have decided to seek re-election to the United States Senate.”
The 45-year-old first-term senator had repeatedly described his frustration with the slow-moving Senate and had been expected to enter the private sector and prepare for another presidential run in 2020. But he’d been rethinking his plans, particularly following the massacre in Orlando and confronting a pressure campaign led by Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell.
HAVANA – Colombia’s government and leftist rebels announced Wednesday that they have reached a deal on a cease-fire that would be the last major step toward ending Latin America’s oldest guerrilla war.
President Juan Manuel Santos will travel to Cuba Thursday to unveil details of the agreement with the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, or FARC. UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon announced he also would be present to witness the signing of the deal.
The presidents of Cuba, Venezuela and Chile – the three nations sponsoring the now almost four-year-old peace talks in Havana – were also expected, and the Obama administration was sending its special envoy to the talks, former diplomat Bernard Aronson.
Associated Press
