Fidel Castro

Rep Diaz-Balart: My family fled Cuba, and I’m setting the record straight for Sanders and Castro apologists

Following praise of Castro’s Cuba by Democratic presidential candidate for president Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., I must take the opportunity to correct the misinformation and false claims so frequently touted by Castro’s apologists. First of all, it is appalling to those personally affected by the Castro regime legacy of firing squads, torture, imprisonment, brutal oppression and terrorism to witness a U.S. presidential candidate seek to decipher some nominal good from the abject and all-pervasive evil of totalitarianism. Many of those who support Sanders today may not have been around to witness the evils of communism over the past few decades. Sanders has no such excuse. At the height of the Cold War, he hobnobbed with the Soviets and established a partnership with the Sandinistas in a Nicaraguan region at war with the indigenous Miskito people. He should remember that when nuclear missiles in Cuba were pointed at the United States, Fidel Castro pleaded that Khrushchev launch a first strike. He should remember that the Castro dictatorship ordered the shootdown of two unarmed civilian aircraft in international waters, resulting in the murder of three innocent Americans and a permanent resident for which the general and two pilots were indicted in U.S. federal court. He should demand the return of fugitives from U.S. justice such as Joanne Chesimard, an FBI’s Most Wanted Terrorist, and terrorist bomb maker William Morales. He should remember the “13 de Marzo” Tugboat Massacre of 1994 when the Castro regime rammed, sprayed and ultimately sunk a tugboat of 72 men, women and children who were attempting to escape Cuba in search of freedom. 41 perished, including 10 children. They were among the over a million Cubans who, like my family, fled totalitarianism. He should also remember the lives of those who died at the hands of the Castro regime in the past ten years, such as Orlando Zapata Tamayo, Juan Wilfredo Soto, Laura Pollan, Oswaldo Paya, Harold Cepero and Armando Sosa Fortuny. He should call for the immediate release of political prisoners Jose Daniel Ferrer, Mitzael Diaz Paseiro, Yanet Perez Quevedo and Miguel Diaz Bouza so that they do not suffer the same fate. Collectivist systems of socialism and communism have brought devastation and tyranny wherever they have been tried. The regimes of communist China, North Korea, Cuba and Venezuela have used socialist/communist policies to justify the most egregious human rights abuses and their iron grip on power. In less than two decades, socialism has managed to plunge Venezuela, a country with the world’s largest known oil reserves, into blackouts, starvation, medical shortages and utter destitution. The Victims of Communism Memorial Foundation reveals that more than 100 million people have perished as a result of communism, from the purge policies of Mao and Stalin, including forced starvation, through the dictatorships in North Korea, Eastern Europe and Cuba. Sanders should be asked about Communist China’s forced reeducation and labor camps, including the current oppression of Uyghurs who have been forced to abandon their language and culture and improve their “literacy” of the state-mandated Mandarin language. With collectivist systems where individual rights are subsumed by the so-called “greater good” of the many, once unthinkable horrors become reality. Sanders’ comments in regard to Cuba are particularly shocking given the Castro regime’s long and sordid history of threatening U.S. interests. The regime in Cuba partners with rogue regimes, terrorists and Anti-American interests such as the terrorist state of Iran, Russia, communist China, the Maduro regime in Venezuela, the FARC and Hezbollah. In 2013, the Cuban regime was caught smuggling weapons to North Korea in the largest violation of international sanctions against that country to date. It has welcomed Russian espionage ships to Cuban waters to spy on the United States. Sonic health attacks against U.S. personnel in Havana caused traumatic brain injury to Americans and their families. For years, Cuba has maintained thousands of Cuban intelligence operatives in Venezuela in what the Organization of American States’ Secretary General called an “occupation army” to oppress the Venezuelan people and sustain the illegitimate Maduro regime. The Obama Administration chartered a course to legitimize the Castro tyranny. Thankfully, President Trump understands the danger of the Cuban dictatorship and has corrected this course. I was disappointed that the Democratic majority in the U.S. House of Representatives chose not to consider such an important resolution condemning Sanders’ admiration of a murderous dictator, a resolution that should have enjoyed bipartisan support. It’s very alarming that the progressive wing of the Democratic Party is willing to turn a blind eye to this evil. “The truth is the truth.”

Thanks to Congressman Mario Diaz-Balart (R-FL) who represents the 21st congressional district in South Florida for that compelling, powerful op/ed.  Please forward that on to anyone you know who liked Bernie’s recent comments about Cuba.

Bernie Sanders defends Fidel Castro’s socialist Cuba: ‘Unfair to simply say everything is bad’

Sen. Bernie Sanders, the frontrunner for the Democrats’ presidential nomination, doubled down on his support for some of Cuban dictator Fidel Castro’s policies, saying in an interview that aired Sunday, “it’s unfair to simply say everything is bad.” Speaking to CBS News’ “60 Minutes,” Sanders, a self-proclaimed democratic socialist, pointed to social welfare programs introduced under Castro’s regime that he described as redeeming, despite the communist dictator’s often repressive human-rights violations against Cubans. “We’re very opposed to the authoritarian nature of Cuba but you know, it’s unfair to simply say everything is bad. You know? When Fidel Castro came into office, you know what he did? He had a massive literacy program. Is that a bad thing? Even though Fidel Castro did it?” Sanders told Anderson Cooper. Fidel Castro relinquished power to his brother, Raúl, in 2011 after nearly half a century in charge of the island nation; Fidel died in 2016. Some Republicans jumped on Sanders’ comments. “It really makes a difference when those you murder at the firing squad can read & write,” Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, tweeted. In a resurfaced speech given at the University of Vermont in 1986, Sanders praised the socialist policies implemented in Cuba by the Castro regime and criticized bipartisan efforts in the U.S. to tamp down on Castro’s spread of communism. While Sanders said in the new interview he “condemns” any human rights violations Castro committed, he also took aim at President Trump for his unlikely friendships with some dictators or strongman leaders, including North Korea’s Kim Jong Un and Russia’s Vladimir Putin. “I do not think that Kim Jong Un is a good friend,” Sanders said. “I don’t trade love letters with a murdering dictator. Vladimir Putin, not a great friend of mine.” Despite victories in all three of the earliest state contests, the Vermont senator has faced criticism from other party contenders, including billionaire Michael Bloomberg, who lambasted his socialist policies declaring they would never fare in a November matchup with Trump. Sanders went on to define his brand of democratic socialism, which has tapped into a more progressive ideology that has been gaining traction with young voters across the country. “When Donald Trump was a private businessman in New York, he got $800 million in tax breaks and subsidies to build luxury housing. That’s called corporate socialism. What democratic socialism is about is saying, ‘Let’s use the federal government to protect the interests of working families,'” he explained. Trump has used Sanders’ policy initiatives, including “Medicare-for-all” and free college tuition and elimination of student loan debt, to take aim at the senator, even going so far as to label him a communist. “You know what? We will fight back,” Sanders said of these attacks. “This is what we will bring up… that the president of the United States is a pathological liar, and it is increasingly clear that many people just don’t believe anything that he says. He is a fraud. I look forward to taking him on.”

Of COURSE Bernie is a communist!  The man and his wife spent their honeymoon in Moscow back when it was the SOVIET UNION, for crying out loud!  But, admitting to that would probably be a bridge too far for his base.  Soo..  he settles for “democratic socialist.”  Heck, he’s not even a registered Democrat.  At any rate, the fact that he’s currently defending a brutal communist dictator like Fidel should surprise nobody.  He recently defended China in a similar way.  Bernie is a nauseating, self-righteous, and brazenly hypocritical communist.  “Mini” Mike Bloomberg even recently call him out for his millions and his three mansions.  For Bernie it’s “do as I say; not as I do.”  He’s such a hypocrite.  Anyway, for more on this story, click on the text above.

Black Lives Matter Praises, Mourns Death of Cuba’s Murderous Fidel Castro

Upon the passing of one of the world’s most murderous dictators, some in the Black Lives Matter (BLM) movement praised Fidel Castro and proclaimed an “overwhelming sense of loss” upon his death. In a message posted on the BLM page on Medium.com, an unsigned editorial lamented having to “awaken to a world without Fidel Castro” and wails about coming to Castro’s “defense” against “the rhetoric of the right.” Worse, the BLM message insists that we can “learn” about “freedom and the peace” from Fidel’s brutal regime. Praising Fidel’s “revolution” that kept his nation’s economy in poverty for decades, the BLM message goes on to claim that humans deserve a series of rights: ” Revolution is rooted in the recognition that there are certain fundamentals to which every being has a right, just by virtue of one’s birth: healthy food, clean water, decent housing, safe communities, quality healthcare, mental health services, free and quality education, community spaces, art, democratic engagement, regular vacations, sports, and places for spiritual expression are not questions of resources, but questions of political will and they are requirements of any humane society.” Many of these “rights,” though, are things that Castro denied his own people for nearly fifty years. BLM goes on to praise Castro for shielding cop killers Assata Shakur and Charles Hill from American justice and thanked him for giving sanctuary to a list of anti-American activists and criminals throughout the decades, preventing them from facing criminal charges in the U.S.

BLM is such a nauseating, anti-America, anti-capitalism, pro-communism bunch of black racist thugs and domestic terrorists..  Unreal..

Opinion: Thousands of Cubans, my father included, paid heavy price during Castro’s rule

I woke up my 81-year old dad with the news of Fidel Castro’s death. His eyes swelled with tears, and he smiled with a sense of relief that a dictator who destroyed his homeland, stole his homes and businesses, killed his friends, and divided our family was finally gone. When Mr. Castro overthrew the Cuban government in 1959, some believed in his vision of a revolution, yet it quickly turned into a nightmare when he and his thugs transformed this peaceful and thriving island into a totalitarian communist regime where the Cuban people were denied their basic rights and freedoms. Mr. Castro changed the course of history and sadly, thousands of Cubans paid a heavy price for his actions. Many who disagreed with the Castro regime including my father were imprisoned, tortured, or assassinated. My father knew the destructive path of Mr. Castro, and he became a freedom fighter – outspoken and critical of Mr. Castro. He was thrown into jail. On the first day of his imprisonment, he spoke to one his friends and had to tell him that he would be executed the next day by a firing squad. It is just one of many stories of the horrors of the Castro brothers who are both guilty of the countless executions of innocent men and women. Despite Mr. Castro’s atrocities, leaders from across the globe will remember him in a positive light. Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau released a statement calling Castro “larger than life leader who served his people for almost half a century . . . a legendary revolutionary and orator.” It was President-elect Donald Trump who said the right words. Mr. Trump stated: “Though the tragedies, deaths and pain caused by Fidel Castro cannot be erased, our administration will do all it can to ensure the Cuban people can finally begin their journey toward prosperity and liberty.” The only ones who have benefited from the dysfunctional and absolute powerful regime have been Mr. Castro’s loyal colleagues, authoritarian military and intelligence agents, while the Cuban people have spent their time figuring out how to feed their families with very limited resources and living in poverty. Mr. Castro’s motto was “patria o muerte, venceremos” (Homeland or death, we will win). For close to six decades, the Cuban people have lost. They have lost their homeland, many loved ones, and their freedoms. In Cuba, there is no freedom of speech or the press, ownership of private property or free elections. It is ultimate power and control by the Castro brothers and his military. While one brother is gone, the other more destructive brother Raul Castro will continue the same fear tactics on the Cuban people. While the Cuban people long for freedom, there will be one day that both Castro brothers will be gone, but it does not guarantee that communism will cease to exist on the island. Political persecutions will continue and freedoms denied. But for one day, an old man can smile and an exile community can celebrate to know there is one less dictator in our world, and we can only hope and pray for a free Cuba soon.

Agreed!  Thanks to political commentator, Mercedes Schlapp for sharing that powerful personal story with us.  Fidel Castro was an evil monster.  And anyone who thinks otherwise, clearly didn’t know him, or understand what communism truly is.  Look to see how many socialist world leaders and liberal Hollywood elitists praise him now that he’s gone..  and then keep this story in mind.

Nine Liberal Hollywood Elites Who Normalized Communist Dictator Fidel Castro

Cuban dictator Fidel Castro has died at the age of 90. Through the years, a long list of Hollywood elites have been bewitched by Castro, despite his Communist regime’s imprisonment of political opponents, homosexuals, and journalists. Actors like Jack Nicholson and Danny Glover, and Hollywood directors from Steven Spielberg to Oliver Stone, have accepted invitations to the tiny Caribbean island and have showered Castro with praise.

To see a list of some of these Hollywood liberal elite morons who have shown this murderous, communist, dictator praise over the years, click on the text above.  Unreal..