Today at Florida International University, Hillary Clinton called for the lifting of the U.S. embargo on Cuba; though in doing so she solidified her position alongside President Obama as sympathetic to the Castro regime.
Since President Obama began his diplomatic relations with the Cuban government, the struggles of the Cuban people have only worsened. The Cuban government has been caught smuggling weapons into North Korea and sheltering international terrorists, all the while abusing the rights of its citizens through a system of brutal oppression and exploitation.
Following the president’s failed policies, Hillary Clinton now has her own plan for Cuba, and will likely illustrate the removal of the embargo as beneficial for Cubans and Americans. Though in truth, such policies will prove detrimental to both states.
In a recent letter, Florida’s Commissioner of Agriculture Adam Putnam outlined how looser trade relations between the U.S. and Cuba can negatively impact agribusiness in our state, asserting that the import of unsanitary Cuban crops would “pose a threat to Florida’s natural resources, environment and agriculture industry.” There would also be little economic benefit associated with a lifted embargo, as it will certainly pull jobs away from Florida’s booming $120 billion agriculture industry.
While Clinton is delivering her speech in the heart of Miami -- an area home to 5 million Cuban-Americans -- Miami’s Republican leaders are the ones most starkly opposed to her proposed policies. In response to the Obama administration’s recent decision to reopen a U.S. embassy in Havana, several of Miami’s congressional leaders spoke out in opposition, including Cuban-born Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, who stated the decision “demonstrated that the Obama administration is willing to turn a blind eye to the sadistic ways of this brutal regime in order to build a presidential legacy.”
Republicans overwhelmingly agree that the U.S. cannot indulge the Cuban government’s penchant for international crime and human rights abuse by lifting the embargo. In order to aid the Cuban people, our leaders must be confronting the Castro regime and encouraging a Democratic process -- not propping up a dictatorship with trade and commerce.
Hillary Clinton is having her lowest week yet in the polls, and she will be eager to garner votes in Miami by addressing sensitive issues. But don’t be fooled by her speech. Hillary Clinton wants what is right for her own self-interests, not those of the American people.
Florida Rep. Blaise Ingoglia, R-Spring Hill, is the chairman of the Republican Party of Florida.
