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The Republican Congressman from Florida Carlos Giménez stated that the current situation in Venezuela presents a direct opportunity to promote the end of the Cuban regime, asserting on his X account: "Since Venezuela is collapsing, we are set for Cuba. The plan is going full speed ahead."
In the same message, he quoted a phrase attributed to José Martí - "Everything to the fire. Even art. To fuel the bonfire" - and added that "we must take advantage of this movement to bring about the end of the regime."
The statement was released amid a context of heightened regional political tension, marked by the recent operation by the United States in Venezuela that culminated in the capture of the dictator Nicolás Maduro and his transfer to New York to face charges related to narco-terrorism.
Hours earlier, he reposted a publication from the OSINTdefender account that showed the movement of an Ilyushin Il-96-300 plane from Cubana de Aviación off the coast of Venezuela, seemingly waiting for authorization to land in Caracas before returning to the Island.
"Let me be clear: the days of the Cuban regime colonizing Venezuela and oppressing its people are over!", wrote the Cuban-American politician, reinforcing his thesis that Havana's influence in Caracas is in its final phase.
Giménez, regarded as one of the most prominent voices of the conservative wing in the U.S. Congress on hemispheric issues, has often stated that authoritarian regimes in Latin America, such as the Cuban one, must be confronted as a core component of Washington's foreign policy.
Maduro's arrest has sparked a wave of reactions in the U.S. Congress, particularly among Cuban-American lawmakers, who publicly celebrated the event and foresee it as a turning point for allied governments in the region.
Last Saturday, the 3rd, several Florida legislators reacted with enthusiasm to the news of the U.S. military assault against the Venezuelan regime.
Among them, Giménez himself wrote: "Maduro has fallen, Díaz-Canel and Ortega are next. We will see each other in a free Venezuela. Our hemisphere will be the hemisphere of freedom!"
In the same vein, Congressman Mario Díaz-Balart described the military operation as "an example of decisive leadership" and stated that the action ordered by President Trump responded to an "unprecedented threat" to the national security of the United States.
According to Díaz-Balart, Maduro's regime has allegedly sent drugs, kidnapped citizens, and collaborated with actors considered enemies of Washington, including Iran, China, Russia, Cuba, Hezbollah, and Hamas.
Congresswoman María Elvira Salazar also celebrated what she described as the end of the "narco-terror imposed by the Maduro regime" and praised the leadership of President Trump and Secretary of State Marco Rubio.
In his message, he called for the "legitimate leaders of Venezuela" to restore freedom and rebuild the country, and asserted that a "new cry for freedom resonates throughout the hemisphere."
In that climate of regional political reconfiguration, Giménez's words reinforce the narrative that the collapse of chavismo could signal the beginning of a cycle of more intense pressures against other allied regimes, with Cuba as one of the main focal points.
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