The Republican senator Rick Scott criticized the Democrats in the Senate for pushing a resolution on Cuba that he labeled as "unnecessary" and disconnected from the reality of the island, while denouncing the regime's repression and highlighting the case of political prisoner Alexander Díaz Rodríguez.
The speech occurred during the debate on a Democratic resolution aimed at limiting President Donald Trump's military authority over Cuba without congressional authorization, an initiative that was blocked in a procedural vote 51-47 with nearly unanimous support from Republicans.
The senator emphasized that President Donald Trump "has never suggested" deploying troops in Cuba, which he deemed the initiative irrelevant and politically motivated. "The only reason I can think of for a Democrat to propose this is for a fundraising email," he stated.
Scott also accused his colleagues of focusing on attacking Trump instead of condemning the Cuban regime. "The Democrats in this chamber choose to oppose President Trump, but not the illegitimate communist dictator of Cuba, Miguel Díaz-Canel," he stated.
In that context, he criticized the Democratic lawmakers who traveled to Cuba and met with the Cuban leader without, as he said, showing any interest in the situation of political prisoners. "Did they visit the prisons? Did they try to free even one? No," he reproached.
He also criticized the statements of a congresswoman who described the Cuban healthcare system as "remarkable", contrasting them with the testimonies of political prisoners and their families.
To illustrate the situation on the island, Scott presented before the Senate the image of the political prisoner Alexander Díaz Rodríguez, detained during the 11J protests of 2021 and sentenced to five years for "sedition" and "disrespect." When he was released in April, he weighed only 37 kilograms, down from the 80-90 kilograms with which he entered prison, and he was suffering from untreated thyroid cancer, hepatitis B, and severe malnutrition.
"Many do not want to see these images, but this is the reality of the Cuban regime," he stated.
The senator concluded by labeling the resolution as "a waste of time" and "an insult" to Cubans both on the island and abroad, and defended that Trump's policy aims to promote freedom and democracy in Latin America. "Have you seen enough? Enough to say that this must stop?" he asked his colleagues.
Scott published the speech on his X account with a direct message: “Don’t look away! When Democrats make gestures of moral superiority in favor of the Castro/Díaz-Canel regime, they are supporting what communist Cuba does to innocent political prisoners like Alexander Díaz Rodríguez. Democrats should feel ashamed for putting on a show in the Senate while we fight every day to free innocent Cubans from hunger and torture.”
The day before, Scott had demanded in Miami the imprisonment of Díaz-Canel and Raúl Castro during the prayer event "United for Cuba" at Bayfront Park, and in April he had urged Trump to intensify sanctions against the military conglomerate GAESA.
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