MIAMI, United States. — Florida Governor Ron DeSantis has officially launched his candidacy to the presidency of the United States. During his career, he has repeatedly condemned the Havana regime and expressed his rejection of the relaxation, by the Biden administration, of the embargo laws.
Already in 2018, when he was a candidate for governor, DeSantis made his anti-Castro position clear, calling for more pressure on the dictatorship and expressing his desire to visit a free Cuba. The Republican, who supported Donald Trump’s strong hand against the dictatorship, also made firm statements in May 2022, after the White House’s announcement to resume rapprochement with the regime now headed by Miguel Díaz-Canel.
“Biden’s plan to prop up the Cuban dictatorship represents another failure when it comes to defending freedom in our hemisphere (…) The money from tourism will go into the pockets of the Cuban regime and will help strengthen the government against those who seek the freedom of Cuba,” he said.
Two months later, he alerted American businessmen about the new scam prepared by the communist nomenclature, crouching behind a supposed “private sector.” De Santis reminded potential investors that in Cuba citizens have no property rights and all companies are directly or indirectly controlled by the regime.
As governor of the Sunshine State, DeSantis is aware that the largest Cuban community outside the Island is in South Florida, a community with a strong Republican base and of which the historical exile is a part, in addition to many exiles who suffered persecution and repression at the hands of Castroism.
At the beginning of May of this year, the politician signed three laws aimed at breaking the influence of China and other hostile countries such as Russia, Venezuela, Iran, Syria, North Korea and Cuba. They all have in common that they are controlled by totalitarian and violent regimes. In the case of the last four, they appear on the list of state sponsors of terrorism.
The laws signed by DeSantis prevent, among other things, companies linked to those nations from closing agreements with the Florida government.