TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — Today, Governor Ron DeSantis directed the Florida Department of Economic Opportunity and Enterprise Florida to issue an alert warning Floridians not to let the communist Cuban regime steal their money through a recent scheme seeking to attract foreign investment for the “non-state sector.” Over the past year and a half, the Biden administration has rolled back American sanctions on Cuba and has failed to assist the Cuban people in their fight for freedom. This has emboldened the racketeers who run the Cuban regime to launch a kleptocratic scheme claiming that they will welcome American investment in the island’s supposed private sector, but foreign investment is meaningless when there are no property rights for Cuban citizens and when the Cuban government will limit which ostensibly private businesses will be allowed to receive foreign funds.
Cuban citizens have no means to leverage investments to elevate their circumstances and all Floridians who might be considering “investing” in Cuba’s “private sector” should be aware that their money will inevitably end up in the pockets of Raúl Castro, Miguel Díaz-Canel, and the rest of the Cuban mafia who will use that cash to continue to enrich themselves, impoverish their people, and further destabilize the Western Hemisphere.
“One year ago we witnessed the largest demonstrations in decades against the Cuban regime in cities and towns across the island. With some additional pressure from our federal government, those protests may well have marked the downfall of the communist regime,” said Governor Ron DeSantis. “Unfortunately, the Biden administration stood idly by as the people of Cuba cried out for freedom, refusing even to authorize the provision of satellite internet by American companies. The weak policies of this administration have led the regime to attempt to perpetrate a financial fraud against the American people under the guise of private investment opportunities. Only when Cuba allows free elections, stops jailing people in the middle of the night for simply saying they want human rights, and ensures private property rights for its citizens should the American people feel confident that money sent across the straits will truly benefit the Cuban people and not the racketeers who run their regime like a mafia.”
“The same regime that robbed Cubans, like my parents, of their livelihoods is now desperately begging Americans to ‘invest’ in the island,” said Lieutenant Governor Jeanette Nuñez. “This scheme is nothing more than a scam that fools only the sympathizers in the Biden administration.”
It has been over one year since the people of Cuba began their demonstrations for libertad last summer. Governor DeSantis has been steadfast in his support of those who sought and continue to seek the downfall of the communist regime. In an effort to fill the vacuum left by the Biden administration’s tacit support for the Cuban government, Governor DeSantis held a roundtable at the American Museum of the Cuban Diaspora where he spoke about the importance of ensuring continued internet access for the people of Cuba; sent a letter to President Joe Biden urging the federal government to provide internet access into Cuba remotely to support those demanding freedom from the repressive communist government; spoke at a press conference at Congresswoman Maria Salazar’s Miami district office; met with Federal Communications Commissioner Brendan Carr; and held a townhall event at the Versailles restaurant where he and Senator Marco Rubio discussed their efforts to get the Biden administration, whose Cuba policy team is staffed with regime sympathizers, out of the way of the Floridian and American innovators and entrepreneurs who wanted to further the cause of freedom for Cuba.
Governor DeSantis has also met repeatedly with Floridians from Venezuela, Colombia, and Nicaragua to discuss the destabilizing effects of the Cuban regime’s efforts to propagate its cruel ideology and despotic form of government in those countries and throughout the region. Most recently, Governor DeSantis condemned the spread of left-wing totalitarian ideology in the Western Hemisphere following the results of the Colombian election, lambasted the Biden administration’s recent attempts to legitimize the brutal Maduro regime in Venezuela, and called out the Iranian regime’s nefarious activities in South America.
Governor DeSantis understands that almost all instability in the Western Hemisphere can be traced back to the Cuban regime and has previously said, “If you want to have a good Western Hemisphere and not have all of these problems in places like Venezuela and Nicaragua, then you should want to see a change in the regime in Havana because Havana has for decades spawned all kinds of disruptions and oppressions throughout the Western Hemisphere.”
The Governor has also spoken about the broader geopolitical implications of having a hostile regime ninety miles off of Florida’s coast, saying, “A free Cuba would be in the interests of the United States of America. If you want influence of the Communist Party of China and Russia in the Western Hemisphere, then support the regime in Havana because every nefarious influence around the world comes through there. If you don’t want Chinese influence and you don’t want Russian influence, then you should want a free Cuba.”
Governor DeSantis will continue to support the cause of freedom in Cuba, Venezuela, Nicaragua, Colombia, and throughout Latin America. Florida is proud to be an oasis of freedom and welcomes those who come here legally to escape oppression, but just as Americans shouldn’t have to flee lockdown states to enjoy their God-given liberties in the Sunshine State, so too should the people of Latin American not have to flee their homelands to escape the Cuban government or the instability it foments in our hemisphere. Floridians should not be tricked into funding the regime in Havana under the guise of foreign investment.
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