Cuban-American Congresswoman María Elvira Salazar is demanding that U.S. authorities revoke the visa of Manuel Menéndez Castellanos, a former official of the Cuban regime who has just entered the country with a family reunification visa.
Salazar sent a letter to Secretary of State Antony Blinken, with a copy to Benjamín Ziff, chargé d'affaires of the United States embassy in Havana, in which he describes Castellanos' trajectory as a repressor in the service of the Castro dictatorship.
"U.S. visas are for the victims of the communist regime in Cuba; they are not meant to benefit the perpetrators of the regime," he emphasized.
The Republican leader recalled that Menéndez Castellanos was a high-ranking communist official, who led the Communist Party in the province of Cienfuegos for 10 years and later served as a deputy in the National Assembly for another 10 years.
He was also part of Fidel Castro's Coordination and Support Team, which was made up of Fidel's trusted men and had the task of spreading fear among his opponents and promoting his cruel policies.
"Living in freedom in the U.S. is for the victims of communism, not for the oppressors. People want to leave Cuba because of the system that Menéndez Castellanos worked to perpetuate; he should spend the rest of his life in that system," stated the Republican federal congresswoman.
The politician, daughter of Cuban emigrants, emphasized that in his years as a Cuban government official, the now emigrated person had the opportunity to denounce what was happening and defect, but he squandered that opportunity. Therefore, he does not deserve to live his retirement in freedom.
"Menéndez does not deserve a U.S. visa in any way, something that tens of thousands of freedom-loving Cubans have been awaiting for years," he added.
"You must immediately revoke the visa of Menéndez Castellanos. Since he worked so hard to defend communism, he should spend his retirement living under the communist system. Why would we allow a central figure of the regime that fought against U.S. interests to obtain a visa to move to the United States and enjoy the fruits of freedom? That goes against everything that the United States stands for," he emphasized.
On August 15, Menéndez Castellanos arrived in the country through Miami International Airport as a beneficiary of an immigrant visa, a fact that has shocked the Cuban exile community in Florida, as it is presumed that he must have lied about his communist affiliation during the interview at the Havana embassy.
On the other hand, there are thousands of emigrants in a migratory limbo and at risk of deportation, and just as many on the Island waiting for parole or trying to leave by any means.
This week, lawyer Willy Allen indicated that a federal investigation requested by Cuban-American lawmakers from South Florida would be the best way to find out why Menéndez Castellanos was able to enter the country.
"Let the congressmen find out -because it has to be at the federal level- let the senators find out what happened here? What happened in that interview?" he declared to America TeVe.
The lawyer added that even if he had been relieved of his position 20 years ago, "that does not erase the damage he caused before he was removed from his post, nor does it erase the 40 years he spent doing wrong in Cienfuegos, nor the damage he inflicted on the country, nor the harm that people like him have done to Cuba."
Santiago Alpízar, an immigration lawyer and vice president of Cubademanda and Cubapresión ID, organizations that denounce human rights violations on the island, also supports the request for a federal investigation.
For its part, the project Cuban Repressors -of the Foundation for Human Rights in Cuba- placed Menéndez Castellanos on the blacklist of white-collar repressors.
"What excuse can President Biden and Vice President Harris give while keeping Cuban families divided and in legal limbo, while granting visas to executioners and thugs of the Castro regime?" questions Congressman Mario Díaz-Balart as well.
At the same time, the Patmos Institute, based in Washington, described the increase in the entry into the United States of "responsible individuals of the communist system in Cuba" as alarming, while many cases of victims on the Island do not have access to a refugee program, as it has been stalled for years.
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