MIAMI, United States. – Florida Governor Ron DeSantis spoke this week about the visit to Tampa of the Cuban ambassador to the United States, Lianys Torres Rivera, and the Cuban consul Nora Albertis Monterrey, according to a report from the Florida Politics website.
“I think they should go back to Cuba, where they are from,” DeSantis declared, condemning the dinner at the exclusive Mise en Place in which both officials of the Cuban regime participated.
“Bringing in the ambassador of a corrupt and totalitarian regime like Cuba, and acting as if we had something to profit from in Florida… no thanks,” DeSantis deplored.
The governor, one of the Republicans who could aspire to the presidency of the United States in the 2024 elections, also described the actions of the Cuban regime as a “crime against humanity” and assured that the Castro government “extinguished the freedoms of people in the island”.
“I think the people who have fled from that regime and its descendants, especially to South Florida, have represented the beating heart of freedom in this state because they understand that anything could be taken away,” DeSantis added.
DeSantis’ outrage over visit follows a tweet from rick scotthis predecessor as Governor and currently a United States Senator.
“I am furious that the ‘ambassador’ of the illegitimate communist regime in Cuba was in Tampa last night [3 de marzo]. The evil she represents will never be welcome in Florida. Joe Biden has to wake up and condemn this now. It is clear that his failed appeasement policies are not working,” Scott said.
According to Tampa Bay Times, Guido Maniscalco, a member of the Tampa Municipal Council, also attended the dinner where the two representatives of the Cuban regime participated; Karen Perez, Hillsborough County School Board Member; and Cindy Stuart, court clerk and accountant in Hillsborough County.
In May 2022, Lianys Torres Rivera paid a visit to Miami to meet with businessmen related to travel and remittances to the Island. Although she tried to travel in secret to avoid exile protests, she was surprised. Subsequently, congresswoman María Elvira Salazar criticized the presence of the Cuban ambassador in the streets of Miami and described it as an insult to exile.
