The Cuban-American congresswoman María Elvira Salazar responded this Friday to the recent statements from the President of Brazil, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, who urged the United States to lift the embargo against Cuba and “let the Cubans live their lives”.
In a message posted on the social network X, the Republican legislator asserted that the speech of the Brazilian president is not directed at the people of the island, but at those who have been in power for more than six decades.
"That's exactly what we want: for the Cuban people to live in freedom and choose their own president. But we know that Lula refers to the Castro elite and the regime's repressors," wrote Salazar, who represents Florida's 27th district in the U.S. House of Representatives.
The congresswoman added that "every day it becomes more evident Lula's deep admiration for the Cuban dictatorship and his true intentions to turn Brazil into another Cuba: without freedom of expression, imprisoning political dissidents, and crushing any opposing voice."
In his post, Salazar shared the coverage from CiberCuba regarding Lula's statements, in which he urged Washington to accept that it "lost the war" and to allow Cubans to "live in peace."
The words of the Brazilian leader came after the U.S. State Department decided to revoke the visas of two officials from his country linked to the Mais Médicos program, described by the United States as a form of “coercive labor exportation”.
The Republican representative emphasized that she will never support those who uphold the Cuban regime. “We will never stand with the jailers; we will always stand with the imprisoned and the unnegotiable right of the Cuban people to be free,” she stated.
Lula's words have generated multiple reactions, both in the political arena and among Cuban citizens inside and outside the island. For many, his speech overlooks the systematic repression, the lack of freedoms, and the economic crisis facing the population.
Social media users have recalled that, far from enjoying the life that Lula mentions, millions of Cubans survive amid blackouts, food shortages, and a lack of medicines, while an elite maintains privileges and controls all levers of power.
Salazar, one of the most critical voices of the Havana regime in the U.S. Congress, reiterated his commitment to human rights in Cuba and support for those seeking democratic change.
Her response adds to a wave of international outrage over what many are calling Lula's open defense of a system that has deprived entire generations of their freedoms.
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