Former President Donald Trump called President Joe Biden’s administration’s response to the Cuban protests an “insult” to Cubans suffering under the communist regime in a Thursday statement.
“The Biden Administration’s refusal to forcefully condemn Communism and the Cuban Communist Regime is a national travesty,” Trump said. “The Biden Administration’s ludicrous suggestion that the Cubans are protesting government mismanagement-not brutal Communist oppression-is an insult to every Cuban patriot who has suffered, been imprisoned, or died in pursuit of freedom.”
“Today’s Democrat Party is so far left they can’t even take a stand against violent Communism,” Trump said. “Many are Communist themselves!”
Thousands of Cuban citizens protested the Cuban Communist Party in over 32 cities Sunday chanting “Freedom!” “Down with Communism!” “Patria y Vida!” and “Liberty!”
White House press secretary Jen Psaki said Wednesday that Cubans protested due to “government mismanagement” without mentioning communism. On Thursday, however, she said, “Communism is a failed ideology,” and added that the repressive government in Cuba “failed its people.”
The July 11 Cuban protests (Photo by YAMIL LAGE/AFP via Getty Images)
The former president praised the Cuban protesters for defending themselves against the “heartless and brutal regime” and said he stands in “total solidarity” with them over their grievances. (RELATED: ‘THEY ARE NOT AFRAID’: Trump Shows Support For Cuban Protesters)
“The proud people of Cuba are desperate to be free from the iron boot heal of the Island’s wicked Communist Regime,” Trump said. “These incredible warriors for freedom risk everything to take to the streets in their quest for freedom.”
“I stand in total solidarity with the freedom fighters who have watched their families suffer in the motherland at the hands of this heartless and brutal regime.”
The former president called what he perceived was the Biden administration’s lack of response to the “freedom-loving” Cuban demonstrations a “betrayal” and that he fought for the people living under socialist regimes during his presidency.
“The Biden Administration is squandering a historic opportunity to stand for freedom and human rights in our home region,” Trump said. “The Biden Administration is betraying the freedom-loving people of Cuba. I fought for Cuba, they didn’t.”
The Trump administration placed new sanctions and penalties on Cuba, Venezuela and Nicaragua in an effort to end the rule of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro and weaken the power of Cuba’s communist government in April 2019, NPR reported.
The measures included strengthening the U.S. embargo with Cuba and allowing U.S. citizens to file lawsuits against foreign companies operating on Cuban land seized by the U.S. during the 1959 Cuban revolution.
“As President, I advanced a strategic vision in which the people of Cuba, Venezuela, and Nicaragua would be free, and that the Western Hemisphere would be the first free hemisphere in all of human history,” Trump said.
The Trump administration’s National Security advisor John Bolton said the U.S. will stand with the people of these countries that are fighting for freedom, according to NPR.
“This is just the beginning,” Bolton said regarding the policies. “As long as the people of Cuba, Venezuela and Nicaragua stand for freedom, the United States will stand with them.”
Biden issued a July 12 statement saying that the administration stands with Cubans people as they fight against their country’s “authoritarian regime.”
“We stand with the Cuban people and their clarion call for freedom and relief from the tragic grip of the pandemic and from the decades of repression and economic suffering to which they have been subjected by Cuba’s authoritarian regime,” the statement said.