Republican Florida Rep. Byron Donalds said Thursday that it is “ridiculous” and “asinine” for Black Lives Matter (BLM) to blame the U.S. economic embargo against Cuba for the current political protests in that country.
“Ridiculous. Asinine.” That statement makes no sense at all,” Donalds told Fox News’ “America Reports.”
“If you lift the sanctions on Cuba, what’s going to happen is that the regime is going to be more empowered. They’ll have more economic ability to continue to suppress the people of Cuba. This is what happens in all totalitarian regimes,” he continued.(RELATED: Rubio Tears Into Biden Administration Over Initial Response To Cuba Protests)
BLM released a statement Wednesday that condemned “the U.S. federal government’s inhumane treatment of Cubans, and urges it to immediately lift the economic embargo. This cruel and inhumane policy, instituted with the explicit intention of destabilizing the country and undermining Cubans’ right to choose their own government … ”
But Donalds said Cuba’s communist regime never pass economic prosperity “down to the people” and insisted that the government will “keep it for the powerful, the 1% … to use the left’s language.” The congressman said that is why U.S. economic sanctions must remain “in place.”
Donalds suggested the U.S. could be “doing a whole lot more” as he pointed out that BLM cheered on the last summer’s protests in the streets “but they don’t want to put blame where blame resides and that’s with the communist dictatorship in Cuba.”(RELATED: ‘Kowtow To The Far Left’: Kayleigh McEnany Says Biden Can’t Address ‘Root Cause’ In Cuba Without Angering His Own Party)
People gather calling for help for Cuban protestors on the island in front of the United Nations on July 14, 2021 in New York City. (Photo by Michael M. Santiago/Getty Images)
White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki claimed that Cubans were protesting government “oppression” and “mismanagement” but did not specifically condemn the communist system for those issues.
Independent Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders also appeared to blame the United States for the Cuban upheaval.
Donalds said that the Cuban people did not choose their current communist government and that “the Cuban revolution led by Fidel Castro was a murderous takeover of that country.” He said if BLM really supports human rights “they should be on the right side of this and supporting the Cuban people who want freedom and liberty on their island.”