Several Florida lawmakers criticize Biden's "soft policy" on Cuba, Venezuela, Nicaragua

Florida Senators Marco Rubio and Rick Scott, accompanied by Congressmen Mario Diaz-Balart and Maria Elvira Salazar, on Thursday questioned President Joe Biden's "soft policy" toward the regimes in Cuba, Venezuela and Nicaragua. The politicians held a press conference from Washington to mark the beginning of National Hispanic Heritage Month in the United States and the independence celebration of some Hispanic nations.

Rick Scott stated at the event that President Joe Biden should take action to strengthen security in the region and questioned the president's credibility in Latin America. The Republican legislator demanded the reestablishment of sanctions against Cuba. In addition, he called for approval of the Democracy Act introduced in Congress in October, which provides for sanctions against those who negotiate with the island's military sector, and asked to provide Internet access to the Cuban people.

"We believe that the people of Cuba, Venezuela, Colombia and Nicaragua deserve democracy, human rights and freedom from tyranny. We know that our hemisphere has become a more dangerous place because of Joe Biden's weakness," said Senator Scott, adding, "We want to be a voice for thousands of people who have been affected by the horrible dictatorships in Latin America.”

In addition, Senator Scott called for the closure of the Cuban embassy in Washington and the reinstatement of the FARC guerrillas on the list of terrorist organizations. He also urged the Treasury Department to block access to banks for individuals involved in human rights violations in Venezuela and Nicaragua. He believes that licenses should be withdrawn from U.S. companies doing business with Cuba.

"If President Biden did these five things today, our hemisphere would be a much safer place [...] These actions would cut off the profits these dictators use to fund their reigns of terror. That should be our goal," Scott said.

Joe Biden's possible rapprochement with Cuba and Venezuela

For his part, Senator Marco Rubio believes that the Biden administration is likely to seek a rapprochement with Cuba after next November's mid-term elections. The senator assured that within the White House there are people sympathetic to these non-democratic regimes:

Rubio also expressed his concern about the coming to power of ex-terrorist Petro: "After the elections in November we are going to see that this Administration is going to seek to reopen relations with Cuba because that is what the left-wing base is looking for. The new government of Colombia is going to seek recognition of Maduro's government in Venezuela," Rubio lamented.

The event was attended by a delegation of Cuban, Venezuelan and Nicaraguan activists who traveled from South Florida to the nation's capital for the meeting.