Since protests against the Cuban dictatorship began on the island earlier this year, Florida Republicans have criticized President Joe Biden (D) for his response. An uprising in protests also coincided with the Taliban taking over Afghanistan, which as subsequently led to tension increasing between the United States and Afghanistan. In turn, the U.S. embassy was evacuated along with soldiers and interpreters that have been serving in the country. Now, the President has signaled that staffing should be increased at the U.S. embassy, and Florida Senator Rick Scott (R) is calling the move “shameless appeasement.”
Over the weekend, a State Department official informed that Biden “has committed to restaffing our embassy in Havana to enhance our ability to engage with civil society and, at the appropriate time, to increase consular services to Cubans, while ensuring the safety of U.S. diplomats serving in Cuba.” For the administration, “this is one step in that process.”
What this entails is allows diplomats in its embassy to be accompanied by some adult family members, which saw the embassy’s status change from “unaccompanied” to “partially accompanied” on August 16th.
However, some lawmakers are directing comments to the President after, last July, he ordered that the State Department “review planning to augment staffing of the U.S. Embassy in Havana to facilitate diplomatic, consular, and civil society engagement, and an appropriate security posture.”
In response to the President’s move, Senator Scott took to Twitter to comment that “if Biden’s silence on the fight for freedom in Cuba wasn’t bad enough, now he’s bowing to the illegitimate communist Cuban regime which continues to torture democracy activists.”
As if Biden’s silence on the fight for freedom in Cuba wasn’t bad enough, now he’s bowing to the illegitimate communist Cuban regime which continues to torture democracy activists. @POTUS must reverse this, stop the shameless appeasement & actually fight for freedom in Cuba. https://t.co/uvwHhtQmtd
— Rick Scott (@SenRickScott) September 3, 2021
The former Governor of Florida then called for the President to “reverse this, stop the shameless appeasement & actually fight for freedom in Cuba.”
The embassy has currently been operating with a reduced staff since late 2017.
