MADRID, Spain.- U.S. Congresswoman Maria Elvira Salazar sent a letter to the United States Secretary of State, Antony Blinkendemanding the revocation of the visa granted to Manuel Menéndez Castellanos, a former high-ranking official of the Cuban regime who recently arrived in MiamiMenéndez Castellanos, who was First Secretary of the Communist Party in the province of Cienfuegos, entered the United States last week through family reunification.
In his letter, sent on August 20 and copied to Benjamin Ziff, chargé d’affaires of the United States embassy in Havana, Salazar argues that Menendez Castellanos does not deserve to enjoy the freedoms offered by the United States, given its central role in the repression of the Cuban people. “The Cuban regime is the worst perpetrator of human rights and civil liberties abuses against its own people. U.S. visas are reserved for the regime’s victims, not its perpetrators,” the congresswoman declared.
Manuel Menéndez Castellanos, who landed at Miami International Airport on August 15, was greeted by a group of people, presumably family members, after several hours of waiting at the airport. Camouflaged under a medical mask, cap and a pink T-shirt, the former leader avoided answering the journalist’s questions. Mario J. Pentonwho identified him and asked him for a statement. “I’m going home,” was his only response before trying to snatch the camera that was filming him.
In his letter, Salazar stressed that Menéndez Castellanos “worked hard to defend communism,” referring to the fact that Menéndez Castellanos, who began his association with the Cuban regime in 1972, held key positions within the Cuban Communist Party, including his role as First Secretary in Cienfuegos between 1993 and 2003. His career was marked by his closeness to Fidel Castro’s coordination and support team, as well as by his participation in the Central Committee of the Cuban Communist Party and his position as a deputy in the National Assembly.
Criticizing the decision to allow Menendez Castellanos to obtain a visa to move to the United States, the congresswoman questioned: “Why would we allow a central figure of the regime who fought against American interests to obtain a visa to move to the United States and enjoy the fruits of freedom? That goes against everything the United States stands for.”
An outspoken critic of the Cuban regime and a staunch advocate that the United States should offer refuge to victims of communism, not those who participated in repression, Salazar said: “Living in freedom in the U.S. is for victims of communism, not the oppressors. People want to leave Cuba because of the system that Menendez Castellanos worked to perpetuate; he should spend the rest of his life in that system.”
The congresswoman concluded her letter with a clear request to the Secretary of State: “Do the right thing and cancel Manuel Menéndez Castellanos’ visa immediately: he does not deserve to spend his retirement in freedom.”
This is not the first time that a regime repressor has managed to establish himself in the United States, a country to which thousands of Cubans emigrate fleeing the same policies that they represent.
Among the most recent cases is that of the former president of the Municipal Assembly of People’s Power on the Isle of Youth from 2012 to 2018 Arelys Casañola Quintana. Last May it became known that Casañola Quintana had settled in Kentucky after asking political asylum on April 20, 2024 in the US, through the application CBPOnein which he claimed “fear of socialism.”
The woman had preceded in office Livan Fuentes Alvarezformer president of the Municipal Assembly of People’s Power on the Isle of Youth, who was denied humanitarian parole to enter the United States.
