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McCarthy huddles with GOP to push Biden on Cuba strategy amid historic protests
Florida Republicans call on Biden to ‘step up’ in wake of Cuba protest
Letters to the Editor — July 21, 2021
Biden may boost staff at US Embassy in Havana as protests rock Cuba
President Biden on Thursday will authorize US sanctions against Cuban officials in the wake of a crackdown on anti-government protests, according to a report.
Biden will sanction a “small number” of people who work in Cuba’s Interior Ministry and military, the Washington Post reports.
Critics have called on the president to act amid the crackdown this month on protesters, who condemned Communist leaders while protesting food shortages and a lack of COVID-19 vaccines.
Although US sanctions can be a major inconvenience by freezing the use of bank accounts, credit cards and other financial services, Cuba is largely detached from the international financial system — with salaries averaging $44 per month — and it’s unclear what effect the sanctions will have on the officials.
It was not immediately clear why Cuban President Miguel Díaz-Canel, who called the protesters “counter-revolutionary mercenaries” and oversaw the crackdown, is not facing sanctions.
“We are prepared to do anything. We will be battling in the streets,” the Cuban leader reportedly said while urging pro-Communist Cubans to counter-protest.
Biden said last week the US is investigating whether it’s technically possible to override an internet blackout imposed by Communist authorities on the island. The lack of internet access prevents distribution of information on protests.
Former President Donald Trump was able to boost support for Republicans among Latinos last year by claiming that Democratic policies could turn the US into a larger version of Cuba or Venezuela.
Biden last week denounced communism — and said socialism wasn’t much better, despite an increasing number of Democrats who self-identify as socialists — when he was asked by a reporter to respond to the Cuba protests.
But Republicans called on him to do more to support the activists in Cuba.
“As it stands now, he’s basically just sitting there doing nothing,” Republican Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis said this week. “He’s leaving these folks out to dry, and what’s gonna end up happening, if they don’t get any type of assistance, is the regime will continue to clamp down, and they’ll eventually stamp this out and then they’ll remain even stronger in power, and that will be a huge blow to the cause of freedom.”
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