Florida Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis blasted President Joe Biden on Tuesday, arguing that the president’s easing of Cuban restrictions marks another failure in leadership.
DeSantis shared the comment in a Twitter post following a White House announcement about policy changes regarding Cuba.
“Biden’s plan to prop up the Cuban dictatorship represents yet another failure when it comes to standing for freedom in our hemisphere,” DeSantis wrote.
“Money from ‘tourism’ will go into the pockets of the Cuban regime – and will help fortify the government against those seeking freedom in Cuba,” he added.
Biden's plan to prop up the Cuban dictatorship represents yet another failure when it comes to standing for freedom in our hemisphere.
Money from "tourism" will go into the pockets of the Cuban regime – and will help fortify the government against those seeking freedom in Cuba.
— Ron DeSantis (@GovRonDeSantis) May 17, 2022
The State Department announced on Monday that the U.S. is easing its Trump-era restrictions against Cuba, allowing increased travel and approval of family remittances to the communist nation.
“The Cuban people are confronting an unprecedented humanitarian crisis — and our policy will continue to focus on empowering the Cuban people to help them create a future free from repression and economic suffering,” the State Department said.
In addition to expanded travel, the changes will “remove the current limit on family remittances of $1,000 per quarter per sender-receiver pair and will authorize donative (i.e., non-family) remittances, which will support independent Cuban entrepreneurs.”
Other changes noted in the statement included reinstating the Cuban Family Reunification Program and increasing support for independent Cuban entrepreneurs.
During a background press call on Monday, the moderator shared that the Biden administration “resumed limited immigrant visa processing in early May and are looking to make sure that we staff up so that we can begin processing the full 20,000 immigrant visas out of Havana as quickly as possible.”
The Biden administration has already allowed tens of thousands of Afghan refugees into the U.S. In addition, a commitment has also been made to allow up to 100,000 Ukrainian refugees into the country.
These massive legal immigration moves are in addition to a border crisis along the nation’s southern border, where nearly 1.06 million illegal immigrants have already been encountered in the fiscal year 2022, and 836,000 have been released into the country.
In contrast, DeSantis last week established November 7 as Victims of Communism Day in Florida, including teaching about those who have suffered under communism as part of the state’s educational curriculum.
“Today, I established November 7th as Victims of Communism Day to honor those who have suffered under communism and remind people of the destruction communism has caused worldwide, including a death toll exceeding 100 million,” DeSantis shared on Twitter. “In Florida, we will tell the truth about communism.”
DeSantis was not alone in his criticism of the new Cuban policy changes by the Biden administration. Florida Republican Sen. Marco Rubio also spoke out against the move on Monday.
“The regime in #Cuba threatened Biden with mass migration and have sympathizers inside the administration and the result is today we see the first steps back to the failed Obama policies on Cuba,” he wrote.
The regime in #Cuba threatened Biden with mass migration and have sympathizers inside the administration and the result is today we see the first steps back to the failed Obama policies on Cuba
— Marco Rubio (@marcorubio) May 16, 2022
On Tuesday, Rubio added, “Biden continues his effort to appease anti-American communist dictators.”
“Yesterday it was #Cuba, now today Biden will announce removing sanctions on #MaduroRegime in #Venezuela,” he continued.
Biden continues his effort to appease anti-American communist dictators
Yesterday it was #Cuba, now today Biden will announce removing sanctions on #MaduroRegime in #Venezuela
— Marco Rubio (@marcorubio) May 17, 2022