Summit of the Americas a perfect opportunity for Trump to condemn the illegitimate transfer of power in Cuba

The Summit of the Americas is a perfect opportunity for President Trump to condemn the illegitimate transfer of power in communist Cuba.

Ana Quintana in The Daily Signal:

Trump Should Condemn Cuba’s Illegitimate Transfer of Power at Summit of the Americas

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Over the weekend, the Castro regime held yet another unfree and unfair election. Only Communist Party officials were allowed to run, international observers were banned, and new dissidents were imprisoned.

It has been the same process for over half a century.

Unique to these elections, though, is the upcoming retirement of Gen. Raul Castro from his seat as president. Castro is expected to step down on April 19 and the recently elected National Assembly will vote for his replacement.

It is rumored that Castro’s hand-picked successor is the current vice president, Miguel Diaz-Canel. His assumption of power could mark the end of an era in which hereditary Castros led Cuba. A closer look at Diaz-Canel, however, shows this is no cause for celebration.

In a video that was leaked last year, Diaz-Canel disparaged Cuba’s dissidents and political prisoners as counterrevolutionaries. He also condemned the United States and independent media. Diaz-Canel continues to follow the Castro policy of demanding the U.S. lift the embargo against Cuba, without compensating America for the property Castro had stolen.

While Diaz-Canel and Castro have a different last name, they seem to share the same political DNA.

This continuation of Cuba’s adversarial leadership does not bode well for the future.

[…]

For over half a century, the Castros’ leadership over Cuba has been illegitimate—they have never been elected by the people. While the era of a hereditary Castro president will most likely end on April 19, the regime’s brutal ideology will continue in Castro’s successor.

The eighth Summit of the Americas is scheduled to be held a few days before this illegitimate transfer of power. President Donald Trump should use the summit’s theme of “Democratic Governance Against Corruption” as an opportunity to publicly condemn Cuba’s sham elections.

While the region will not rally behind him, the Trump administration should remain steadfast in its support for Cuban freedom.

Read the entire piece HERE.