Florida Congressman Mario Díaz-Balart (R) spoke exclusively with The Floridian Publisher Javier Manjarres on Mar. 25 to discuss the possibility of the U.S. government and Cuban exiles helping provide a swift transition towards democracy within the Cuban government.
Since the U.S. military operation that led to the capture of Venezuelan dictator Nicolas Maduro and his wife Cilia Flores, the Trump administration has ramped up pressure on the communist-led island nation of Cuba. In early Jan., the U.S. government placed an oil blockade on Havana following Maduro’s capture and threatened to impose duties on countries supplying Cuba with crude.
As of Mar. 26, Cuba has experienced severe nationwide electricity blackouts, with Cuban President Miguel Diaz-Canel vowing ‘unyielding resistance’ as negotiations between Washington and Havana take place amid increasing resource scarcity and threats from President Donald Trump of a “friendly takeover.”
The Floridian : "Let me ask you this, you’re in touch with the Cuban exile community, hypothetically, if Cuba falls tomorrow, do you know for sure if there is an apparatus or a group that we can place that would be able to move in, help the government, help the U.S. government swiftly in and transition to…"
DIAZ-BALART: "First of all, there are a lot of really impressive people on the island. Probably most of them are in prison, you know, who are just really impressive and you know, bright, sharp, patriotic, wonderful people, again, most of them are in prisons."
DIAZ-BALART: "And so you’ve got good people there, a very solid law, and now you have an administration that’s doing the right thing. Now, are there people in the diaspora, in the exile community, that would want to be helpful? Of course there are. But it requires a change of the regime."
