The enemy in the fight for a free and independent Cuba is one single entity: the totalitarian regime of Miguel Díaz-Canel.
The enemy isn’t U.S. Democrats. Nor is it President Joe Biden, who does want to see democratic change on the island, despite Florida GOP rhetoric to the contrary.
Yet, Republican Cuban American activists in Miami and members of Congress are pushing the false narrative that Biden doesn’t want regime change in Cuba. And they have found new fuel in his disastrous withdrawal from Afghanistan and the bombing in Kabul that has cost the lives of U.S. service members and innocent civilians.
The constant partisan harangue against Biden on social media and news conferences featuring Gov. Ron DeSantis, embattled for his negligent response to the COVID-19 pandemic, is political theater. And, not for the benefit of Cuba, but for the 2022 midterm and gubernatorial election in Florida.
Writes Marcell Felipe, a Republican Miami lawyer, in a Miami Herald op-ed: “’End the Regime!’ This demand was heard during the anti-communist rebellion in Cuba, proving the people want to eradicate the regime, instead of reform. It also revealed that the United States did not have a plan to deal with that reality, just as it did not have a plan to deal with Afghanistan.
“This may be contributing to President Biden’s reluctance to support regime change, fearing the island could erupt into chaos as Libya did in 2011 and Afghanistan has now.”
Regime change in Cuba
The premise that Biden doesn’t want regime change is a falsehood — and a cheap shot.
Here are the facts:
— Biden has spoken clearly.
He has denounced communism and called Cuba “a failed state.”
“We stand with the Cuban people and their clarion call for freedom,” were his first words, acknowledging the nature of the protests.
— Cuban Americans activists wanted Biden to use the Global Magnitsky Human Rights Violation Act against Cuban officials — and he has delivered several times.
Not only did Biden keep intact President Donald Trump’s sanctions, but he added his own after the Cuban regime’s brutal response to the historic protests across the island. The target of the latest sanctions were national police officials for their role in the crackdown.
The philosophy behind Biden’s approach to Cuba, say Cuban Americans who recently met with Biden in the White House, is to “empower the Cuban people while holding the regime accountable” and the “promotion” of respect for universal human rights.
There’s no question where the president stands on Cuba, nor should there be doubts about his desire to demonstrate leadership, I’m told. But Republicans take up all the oxygen in Miami-Dade, capital of exiles, leaving Democrats with a communication problem and visibility issues.
Democrats don’t want to engage on the topic of Cuba because deep down inside they “like socialism,” a GOP operative told me.
The support of the Black Lives Matter Foundation for the Cuban regime that is oppressing AfroCubans hasn’t helped change that perception. Neither has the absence of Vice President Kamala Harris, tasked with dealing with immigration border issues, from the Cuba conversation.
What the public sees are Republicans spending time, off-election, in the Cuban community demonstrating solidarity and support for a free Cuba. They don’t seek bipartisanship; they want to outmaneuver the Cuba debate.
No comparison to Afghanistan
The latest gimmick is bringing into the topic a complex Middle East turmoil that has little to do with the Caribbean (other than Iran’s worrisome presence in Cuba and Venezuela). It’s a smokescreen, another easy political trick tied to the news cycle and made for Miami’s ears.
But fact: The withdrawal plan and deadline were negotiated by the Trump administration. Biden, on the other hand, has taken full responsibility for the disaster. That’s what leaders with backbone do.
As to Biden’s approach to foreign policy, spokeswoman Jen Psaki described it Tuesday as “through the prism of what is in our national interests, including how best to continue to keep the American people safe.”
Cuba, so close to our coast, is irrevocably linked to our national security.
The Biden administration, isn’t by any stretch of the imagination, ignoring it.
Cuban Americans in Congress
The question is what are Republican Cuban Americans in Congress from Miami-Dade doing to advance the cause of democracy in Cuba, to raise awareness among their colleagues, particularly those across the aisle whom they constantly and gratuitously antagonize?
Not much.
When they had a podium on Cuban Independence Day back in May before a throng of media, they used it for self-aggrandizement, not to speak with powerful facts about the repression.
But they don’t miss an opportunity to slam Biden, as if he were doing nothing.
They portray connecting Cubans to the internet as if all it took was flipping a Comcast switch when it’s quite complicated. Fact: Biden has assigned a team to investigate and present a plan to circumvent the Cuban government’s censorship.
If U.S. Reps Mario Díaz-Balart, Carlos Gimenez and Maria Elvira Salazar think Biden should invade Cuba, why don’t they introduce a bill in Congress asking for military intervention?
That’s Congress’ job, to declare war, so go for it.
But they won’t; they know there’s no political support in the United States, not even from Republicans. There wasn’t with Venezuela and there isn’t with Cuba.
One thing is certain, though: When we’re a house divided by American politics in Miami, the Cuban regime wins.
