The Republican representative María Elvira Salazar was involved in a tense and heated exchange with Democratic Congressman Jonathan Jackson during a hearing of the Subcommittee on Western Hemisphere Affairs of the House Foreign Affairs Committee in Washington.
The clash was triggered when Jackson, who visited Cuba from April first to sixth alongside fellow Democrat Pramila Jayapal, invited Salazar to join him on a future trip to the island. The subcommittee chair accepted the challenge with irony and launched a passionate defense of the Cuban exile community along with a harsh critique of the Castro regime.
"I represent the Cuban exile community in Miami. The Cuban exile community has been sending eight billion dollars over the past ten years to Cuba. The Cubans on the island depend on the work of my constituents," stated Salazar.
The congresswoman was straightforward in highlighting the nature of the regime: "The Cuban regime is in the business of power, not in feeding Cubans."
When Jackson requested that Fidel Castro be allowed to rest in peace—pointing out that he had been dead for almost a decade—Salazar responded without hesitation: "No. I would want him to be burning in hell, not at peace. We’ve already finished Easter."
The representative for District 27 of Miami was emphatic about the legitimacy of the Cuban political system: "These are the facts: the Cuban regime is not in the business of providing for... it is neither a regime nor a government; there has not been an election in the last 65 years. I would be the first to say: let the Cubans decide who they want to govern them."
Salazar described the Castro revolution in historical terms: "Cubans have unfortunately fallen into the hands of the most wicked revolution since Christopher Columbus arrived in the Western Hemisphere."
The congresswoman also evoked Cuba's wasted potential: "I wish Fidel Castro had taken a different path and allowed for prosperity. We could be Taiwan, Singapore, Hong Kong, just 90 miles from the United States. But he chose evil, and he chose to dedicate himself to power instead of feeding his people."
Regarding Barack Obama's approach to the regime, Salazar was equally critical: "President Obama gave the Castro regime the chance to receive everything in exchange for nothing. And what did they do with Obama? They spat in his face." She added, "In the end, it failed because they don't care about freedom; they only care about themselves."
In response to Jackson's invitation to travel together to Havana, Salazar replied, "I would love to go with you to Havana. It would be an honor. But if you ask them, I am sure they would let me in with you, but in the end, I know who I represent, and I have heard this story since I was born."
Jackson replied that Salazar's language was "hyperbolic" and "a close relative of invention," to which the congresswoman responded by recalling that the history of the Democratic Party with Cuba speaks for itself.
In the same hearing, titled "Latin America after Maduro's fall," Salazar made another impactful statement: "The communist regime in Cuba is on life support. Trump just needs to pull the plug."
He also pointed out that Cubans have lost their fear and belief in the invincibility of the Castro regime, which has lived in the soul of every Cuban for the last 65 years.
"When people lose their fear, the dictatorship is about to lose everything," Salazar concluded.
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