After the U.S. imposed more sanctions on elements within the Communist Cuban regime, the Chinese government came out in full support of their ally in the Western Hemisphere, calling for the Biden administration to end the long-standing and decades-long sanctions put in place by past American administrations.
"China firmly opposes any move to arbitrarily impose unilateral sanctions and interfere in other countries internal affairs under the pretext of so-called 'freedom,' 'human rights and 'democracy,'" a Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson recently stated.
The Chinese and Russian influence and alliance with Cuba is unmistakable, and U.S. lawmakers like Rep. Michael McCaul (R), the ranking member of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, believes that even as China and Russia embrace Cuba, the “leadership within the Castro regime is starting to crumble,” and because it is an “important moment in time, an important period in history,” the opportunity needs to be seized.
Rep. McCaul made his remarks during a Bay of Pigs Museum press conference in Miami-Dade County alongside House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, Reps. Maria Elvira Salazar, Mark Green, Carlos Gimenez, and Rep. Mario Diaz-Balart, along with Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis and Lt. Gov. Jeanette Nunez.
Rep. Diaz-Balart also believes what Senator Marco Rubio recently stated, that the situation in Cuba has always been a U.S. national security issue and that the Cuban regime continues to serve as a proxy for China and Russia throughout Latin America.
“This is a matter of national security,” Rep. Diaz-Balart said. “The regime in Cuba is responsible for what is happening in Nicaragua, Venezuela, what’s about to happen in Peru, or could be happening in Chile. What is happening in Colombia right now, is seeds that are being planted there.”
Diaz-Balart adds that the regime creates “instability in our own backyard” and is creating “more repressive regimes in our Hemisphere” like the Maduro government in Venezuela.
American legislators from both sides of the aisle are not the only individuals warning of the imminent threat that China and Russian-sponsored Marxism poses to the Western Hemisphere.
Academics and foreign policy experts like Dr. Luis Fleischman, a Sociology professor and co-President for the Palm Beach Center for Security & Policy Research contend that there is a growing “anti-American ideology” that has taken root in the Western Hemisphere as a result of Chinese and Russian influence.
“Today we have in the region hostile authoritarian regimes, tied to transnational crime, regional and international terrorist groups (ELN, Hezbollah) and who enjoy support from China, Russia, Iran, and even Turkey. They hold an anti-American ideology,” Dr. Fleischman told The Floridian. There has not been an adequate foreign policy towards the region since dangerous authoritarian regimes have emerged in the area.”
Fleischman, like other scholars, believes that the existing and ongoing humanitarian crises in Venezuela and Cuba should be “part of a grand strategy,” but warns that the U.S. and its allies must be cautious in sending humanitarian aid that could embolden or help the oppressive regime leaders.
Fleischman also supports a U.S. Naval blockade of Venezuela to keep out China, Russia, or Iran. Florida Senator Rick Scott floated the idea of a naval blockade at the height of the Venezuelan protests.
“Yes, I think it should be part of a grand strategy… The health of the Cuban and Venezuelan people is important. I would suggest imposing a naval blockade on Cuba and Venezuela so that the regime does not aid from other countries such as China, Russia, or Iran. But I would leave a sort of humanitarian corridor controlled by the U.S.and its allies that would secure the passage and distribution of humanitarian aid strictly to the Cuban and Venezuelan people,” Fleischman stated.
At a recent discussion on the future of Latin America hosted by IHS Market, Prof Ricardo Hausmann, Harvard Kennedy School of Government, said about the Venezuelan crisis, “the world needs an end to this. Venezuela’s disaster is very significant. We are now more than six million migrants,” adding, “the world is getting a little bit tired of the Venezuelan story” but “we need to put Venezuela back on the agenda.” He concluded, “what Cuba has shown the world is that these States can develop enough repressive capacity to shut down the people and there’s no solution to these problems without international involvement.”
