Right now the Cuban communist regime is cutting off access to water, electricity, medicine, and Internet access to their citizens.
AOC says it's our fault.
Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) called on the US to lift what she called its “absurdly cruel” embargo of Cuba Thursday in her first formal statement responding to the ongoing protests that have rocked Havana’s Communist regime.
“We are seeing Cubans rise up and protest for their rights like never before,” Ocasio-Cortez began. “We stand in solidarity with them, and we condemn the anti-democratic actions led by [Cuban] President [Miguel] Diaz-Canel. The suppression of the media, speech and protest are all gross violations of civil rights.”
The “Squad” member went on to call the embargo “the US contribution to Cuban suffering,” adding that it “is absurdly cruel and, like too many other US policies targeting Latin Americans, the cruelty is the point. I outright reject the Biden administration’s defense of the embargo. It is never acceptable for us to use cruelty as a point of leverage against every day [sic] people.”
Ocasio-Cortez’s call to lift the embargo, which has been in place since 1962, echoed that of socialist Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) who tweeted earlier this week that the embargo had “only hurt, not helped, the Cuban people.” In addition, the Black Lives Matter group denounced the embargo Wednesday as a “cruel and inhumane policy” that was “instituted with the explicit intention of destabilizing the country and undermining Cubans’ right to choose their own government.”
One former Democratic member of Congress took issue with Ocasio-Cortez’s statement.
“No. This is not correct,” tweeted Debbie Mucarsel-Powell, who represented Florida in the House for a single term before losing her reelection bid last year. “It’s the failed policies of a communist regime that has violated human rights, imprisoned & killed dissidents. Cuban ppl -young & old- are risking their lives to rise up, we must listen to them.
Photo: Getty Images North America
NEW YORK, NEW YORK - JULY 08: Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY), Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) and Rep. Jerry Nadler (D-NY), hold a press conference on the Child Tax Credit (CTC) on July 08, 2021 in New York City. As part of the American Rescue Plan, Congress expanded the CTC in March so that families could get more relief and get it sooner. The first advanced checks will be sent to families next week on Thursday, July 15 and will be $250-300 per child. Families will receive these checks every month for the rest of 2021. (Photo by Spencer Platt/Getty Images)