On Sunday, hundreds of Cubans took part in the largest uprising in the nation in over 30 years, Fox News reported.
Cuba is in the midst of a dire economic crisis and major food shortage as a result of its Communist government’s policies.
As a result, thousands of protesters took to the streets in a massive anti-government demonstration.
Desperate and hungry protesters shouted “freedom,” “enough,” and “unite” as they rallied around the Communist headquarters in Havana.
Many in the GOP have rebuked President Joe Biden‘s administration for its failure to respond to the obvious crisis.
His administration has largely attempted to frame the uprising as a response to a coronavirus outbreak rather than bleak economic conditions and major food shortages resulting from Communist policies.
White House Press Secretary Julie Chung claimed as much in a Tweet on Sunday.
Peaceful protests are growing in #Cuba as the Cuban people exercise their right to peaceful assembly to express concern about rising COVID cases/deaths & medicine shortages. We commend the numerous efforts of the Cuban people mobilizing donations to help neighbors in need.
— Julie Chung (@WHAAsstSecty) July 11, 2021
Senator Rand Paul, R-Ky, expressed his disagreement, arguing that the cries for freedom and unity indicate concerns with the communist government rather than with the Coronavirus.
Socialism never works! Here’s hoping Cubans will one day get their freedom back. https://t.co/rgez2Tcl1n
— Senator Rand Paul (@RandPaul) July 12, 2021
Senator Ted Cruz, R-Tx, shared a similar sentiment, arguing that it is hypocritical of the Biden administration to at once claim to support free speech, but also support a regime that imprisons and tortures its political opponents.
What is it with the Biden administration?
The Cuban people are fighting for freedom against an illegitimate tyrannical regime that is willing to torture and kill to stay in power.
American leaders must say so and condemn the regime and its brutality – unequivocally. https://t.co/QpXd4avfMU
— Ted Cruz (@tedcruz) July 12, 2021
Cruz, a member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, also issued a statement calling on the Biden administration to act quickly.
“The American people stand squarely with the men and women of Cuba and their noble fight for liberty, and the Biden administration must unequivocally and forcefully tell the world as much – immediately,” he wrote.
Later in the day, the Biden administration seemed shamed into issuing a supportive statement:
We stand with the Cuban people and their clarion call for freedom and relief from the tragic grip of the pandemic and from the decades of repression and economic suffering to which they have been subjected by Cuba’s authoritarian regime. The Cuban people are bravely asserting fundamental and universal rights.
Lindsay Graham, R-SC, also took to Twitter, celebrating the protests against the brutal communist regime.
The protests reflect generations of frustration over being told by the Cuban communist party how to live your life from cradle to grave.
Under communism the floor and ceiling of life are very narrow, while most people’s hopes and aspirations are boundless.
— Lindsey Graham (@LindseyGrahamSC) July 12, 2021
Congresswoman Nicole Malliotakis, R-NY, the daughter of Cuban immigrants, released a statement calling on the Biden administration to work with those of Cuban descent in Congress to ensure that he understands the magnitude of the protests against Cuba’s tyrannical regime.
I am asking @POTUS @SecBlinken to call on members of the Cuban military to not fire on their own people
The incompetent communist party of #Cuba cannot feed or protect the people from the virus.
Now those in the military must defend the people not the communist party.
— Marco Rubio (@marcorubio) July 11, 2021
“We are calling on all the revolutionaries in the country, all the Communists, to hit the streets wherever there is an effort to produce these provocations,” he warned.
