MIAMI, United States. – Miami-Dade County Tax Collector Dariel Fernández asked President Donald Trump and Secretary of State Marco Rubio this Monday to “cancel any license that does not truly help the Cuban people.”
The official of Cuban origin launched the request during a press conference held this Tuesday in the port of Miamiin which the Cuban opposition leader Rosa María Payá, member of the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR), the Cuban-American congressman Carlos Giménez also participated; the secretary general of the Assembly of the Cuban Resistance (ARC), Orlando Gutiérrez-Boronat; and the opposition leader José Daniel Ferrer.
During his intervention, Fernández denounced that, after a review carried out by his office, federal licenses were identified that authorize exports to Cuba “that go far beyond basic humanitarian needs,” including “luxury cars, recreational equipment, jet skis, jacuzzis and high-consumption products.”
Furthermore, the official maintained that, under the leadership of Trump and Rubio, “the United States has made it clear that Cuba is not just a foreign policy issue, it is a national security issue.”
Fernández explained that the review focused on “certain businesses that operate in Miami-Dade County and that participate in transactions with the Cuban communist dictatorship,” activities that, he said, require federal licenses from the United States Department of Commerce.
Based on these findings, he highlighted that “there is a big difference between humanitarian aid and luxury trade” and contrasted that “food, medicine and essential goods help the Cuban people,” while high-value products “do not.” According to his statements, the issue raises “serious concerns” because, when licenses allow commercial activities that seem incompatible with “the suffering of the Cuban people,” “the public deserves transparency, clarity and accountability.”
The official specified, however, the limits of his competence. “As Miami-Dade County Tax Collector we do not issue federal export licenses or enforce federal sanctions,” he said, attributing that authority to the Department of Commerce, the Department of State, the Department of the Treasury and “other federal state agencies.”
Even so, he assured that his office does have “a legal duty” under Florida law to review what is “within its authority” and verify that companies comply with state, local and federal regulations required of any business that operates in the county. “Any business that operates in our county must comply with the laws. There will be no exceptions,” he said.
After speaking, Rosa María Payá thanked Fernández for his initiative to “end the businesses complicit with the Cuban dictatorship” and asked that humanitarian aid be accompanied by additional measures to “close the sources of financing to the regime.”
Payá stated that “the Cuban dictatorship threatens regional peace, the national security of the United States” and requested actions such as “freezing the assets of the regime and the military abroad,” as well as the use of specific sanctions, including the Magnitsky Act, in addition to prosecutions for crimes related to “terrorism” and “financial crimes,” as he expressed.
For his part, Giménez recalled that the three Cuban-American congressmen from South Florida They sent a letter to Trump to ask him to “suspend all licenses of companies that are doing business with the regime.”
The former mayor of Miami-Dade recalled that, for years, some companies “were supposedly sending humanitarian aid to Cuba,” but alleged that “within those companies” exports of items that he described as non-humanitarian have also been found, including Ferrari and Jaguar brand cars, jet skis. and jacuzzis. “Those are luxury items, and I have not seen many Cubans driving Ferraris and other luxury cars,” he added.
Giménez linked these operations with the maintenance of the repressive apparatus of the Cuban regime. “With every dollar (…) that we send to Cuba (…) we are helping the mechanism for the repression of the Cuban people, and that has to stop,” he stated. He also called the regime “a threat to the security of the United States” and maintained that he had never seen it “in this weak condition” in more than six decades.
“We need change in Cuba,” he said, noting that when it happens, the United States would be willing to help “restore” the country.
For his part, Orlando Gutiérrez-Boronat assured that “the resources that leave the United States for Cuba do not reach the Cuban people,” while asking to “review businesses,” “suspend licenses” and “end illegality.” “Enough of the Castro regime’s intelligence agents operating here with impunity,” he declared.
Opponent José Daniel Ferrer also spoke at the appearance, who said he subscribed to what was expressed by Payá and Gutiérrez-Boronat and described the expectation that, according to him, he perceives in Cuba regarding the end of the regime. The leader of the Patriotic Union of Cuba (UNPACU) supported the intensification of measures against the supply of fuel to the Island and stated: “Whoever sends fuel to tyranny, let them suffer the consequences, let them suffer the tariffs.”
The conference concluded with calls to strengthen the control and review of licenses linked to exports to Cuba. However, speakers asked to differentiate between humanitarian shipments and the trade of luxury goods.
