Cuban American lawmakers respond to Obama’s latest unlawful gift to Cuba’s apartheid dictatorship

U.S. Senator Marco Rubio (R-FL):

Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., speaks during the leadership forum at the National Rifle Association's annual convention Friday, April 25, 2014 in Indianapolis. (AP Photo/AJ Mast)

Rubio Condemns Latest Obama Concessions To Castro Regime

Washington, D.C.– U.S. Senator Marco Rubio (R-FL) issued the following statement regarding today’s announcement by the U.S. Department of Treasury and U.S. Department of Commerce modifying additional regulations regarding Cuba:

“The Obama Administration’s one-sided concessions to Cuba further empower the regime and enable it with an economic windfall. These regulations are more proof that the Obama Administration’s intent has never been to empower the Cuban people but rather to empower the Cuban government’s monopolies and state-run enterprises.

“Our U.S. policy toward Cuba should be driven by our national security interests, securing greater political freedoms and defending the human rights of the Cuban people, none of which are advanced through Obama’s latest concessions.”

U.S. Senator Bob Menendez (D-NJ):

Bob Menendez

Menendez on Announcement to Enhance Commerce with Cuban Regime

ATLANTIC CITY, NJ – US Senator Robert Menendez (D-NJ) today issued the following statement regarding the latest announcement by the Obama administration to lift restrictions that allow the financing of American exports to Cuba.

“Today’s action by the Administration is a contravention of the law – the will of Congress, and the people who elected us, and a betrayal to those brave Cubans who have raised their voices in support of freedom, only to be silenced by a regime we are now helping. Put simply, exporting to Cuba means exporting to the regime and its state-owned enterprises solely controlled by the Castro family; it will do nothing to empower the Cuban people.

“Furthermore, U.S. law says that any Administration has the discretion to tighten sanctions, but none have the power to relax them, as press are widely reporting this Administration is doing for a third time since it announced a new U.S. approach to the Cuban regime last year.

“It is a lack of opportunity – not a change of heart – that had slowed the Castro’s regional adventurism and instability-inducing support for those who would pose threats to our national interest. It is a lack of resources that was causing the regime to loosen its grip. And, it will be these and any future U.S. supported lifelines the regime will use to reverse that course, solidify the dictatorship, and undermine the very values we have tried to support. When taken in total, the sanctions relief we have seen over the last year sends more than just a message to the people we once supported. It provides their oppressors the resources they need to tighten their grip.”

U.S. Rep. Mario Diaz-Balart (R-FL):

DiazBalart2

Diaz-Balart Responds to Yet Another Round of Concessions to the Castro Regime

WASHINGTON — Congressman Mario Diaz-Balart (R-FL) released the following statement after the Obama administration announced another round of concessions to the Castro regime.

“This brazen attempt to allow direct trade with the Castro regime has revealed fully that President Obama’s policy has nothing to do with supporting the Cuban people but has everything to do with propping up a brutal, anti-American dictatorship 90 miles from our shores.

“With political arrests surpassing 8,000 last year and brave political prisoners such as Vladimir Morera Bacallao, Danilo Maldonado Machado (‘El Sexto’), and Misael Canet Velazquez nearly perishing in prison over the past several months, the Castro regime’s human rights record remains the worst in our hemisphere. Shamefully, for the first time since the murderous Castro regime seized power decades ago, we have a U.S. president who repeatedly sides with the oppressors over the oppressed.

“However, the majority in Congress and every Cuban-American member, whether Democrat or Republican, whether in the House or Senate, continues to fiercely oppose President Obama’s appeasement of the Castro regime. In contrast to the President, we remain in steadfast solidarity with Cuba’s true leaders — the political prisoners and human rights activists who risk everything to demand change in Cuba. We will continue to oppose the Obama-Castro deals that undermine the Cuban people’s struggle for freedom by supporting their jailers.”