Venezuelan and Cuban activists in Florida on July 10 urged President Donald Trump to help people oppressed by the regimes in their countries to regain their freedom and eliminate narco-terrorism.
Ackerman, the son of a Venezuelan concentration camp survivor who still lives in the country, said his organization has lobbied the U.S. Congress for over 18 years to impose sanctions on narco-terrorists in Venezuela.
Gutierrez-Boronat shared key life experiences he had in communist Cuba that helped him to understand the nature of socialism and communism.
He recalled that church services in Cuba were attended by very few people, as churchgoers were persecuted and discriminated against by the communist regime for believing in God.
“Everywhere communism and socialism have come to, the first freedom they strike at is religious freedom,” Gutierrez-Boronat said.
“The right to believe or not to believe, to have faith or not to have faith, that’s fundamental, and that’s one of the first things communism in Cuba tried to eradicate. They tried to wipe out Christianity in Cuba.”
Cuba was self-sufficient with a thriving economy, and even exported food, before the communists took over the country in 1959, he said, but “Cuba today cannot feed itself without U.S. donations.”
Gutierrez-Boronat criticized Hollywood and media outlets that spread false information about socialism, communism, and about what happened in Cuba.
Trump said the United States has imposed “historic sanctions” on socialist dictator Nicolás Maduro’s regime in Venezuela and that it stands “with the righteous and rightful leaders of Venezuela.”
Trump added that his administration indicted Maduro’s regime for narco-terrorism and imposed sanctions on Nicaragua for human rights violations. He also ended the Obama administration’s “pro-communist policies” that he said Joe Biden has pledged to reinstate.
Venezuelan Communism Exposed
Venezuela was a prosperous and generous country until 1999, when Hugo Chávez took power and imposed socialism on the country.
Almost two decades of socialist rule has devastated Venezuela, Ubieta said, bringing 75 percent of Venezuelan families into poverty where they even can’t afford the “basic food basket.”
“Out of 7.8 million children in the country, 40 percent report difficulties [attending] school for problems with water supplies, blackouts, no food at home, lack of transport, or lack of teachers,” she said, adding that the child mortality rate has also increased dramatically.
The socialist regime has damaged the country’s economy to the point where the food sector can’t produce enough food and the oil industry can’t produce enough gasoline, Ubieta said.
Chavez’s socialist policies made the country even more dependent on oil export, and his successor, Maduro, continued his policies.
“Transnational organized crime controls Venezuela,“ Ubieta said. ”Drug cartels, Colombian guerrillas, international mobs, and Iranian financed terrorists operate freely” under the Venezuelan regime “with the Cuban agenda.” He added that Trump has been the only U.S. president “who has stood firm against these criminals.”
“I ask you [Mr. President] not to leave Venezuela. Each minute that passes is one of the greatest sufferings for Venezuelans,” she said.
Trump said: “I will not forget what I heard today. It’s very moving, it’s a very tough situation, and we’ve made a lot of progress as you probably have seen.
Democratic Party Roundtable
Earlier on the same day, ahead of Trump’s visit, the Democratic Party organized a virtual roundtable on Facebook for Cuban and Venezuelan community leaders to condemn the Trump administration for “broken promises to Venezuelan and Cuban communities,” according to FloridaDems.org.“Look beyond what says—and assess and evaluate what he has done. He has done nothing to resolve this pandemic. Pretty much like he has done nothing—just talk—about Venezuela. He doesn’t care about Venezuelans.”
Frank Mora, a Cuban American and the former deputy assistant secretary of defense for the Western Hemisphere under the Obama administration, said at the Democratic roundtable: “Why isn’t he granting [Temporary Protected Status] for Venezuelans? Why increase the deportations of Cubans? Why are Cubans being detained without their cases being considered in Louisiana? Why are there so many Cubans in at the U.S.–Mexico border without also having their cases heard?” reported FloridaDems.org.
The Trump administration tried to rescind TPS designations for six countries in 2018 and 2019 but was blocked by judges each time.
