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AOC echoes BLM, claims ‘absurdly cruel’ US embargo – and Trump – responsible for Cuban suffering

July 16, 2021 | | Print Article

U.S. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) echoed Black Lives Matter on Thursday, lashing out against the 60-year-old embargo against Cuba and partially blaming the United States for Cuban suffering, calling it “absurdly cruel.”

“We stand in solidarity with the Cuban people and condemn the suppression of the media, speech and protest. We also call for an end to the U.S. embargo and additional Trump-era restrictions that are profoundly contributing to the suffering of Cubans,” Ocasio-Cortez said in a statement.

The Democratic socialist labeled the communist regime’s crackdown on Cubans’ freedoms in the press and in the streets as a “gross violations of civil rights.”

“The embargo is absurdly cruel and, like too many other U.S. policies targeting Latin Americans, the cruelty is the point,” the “Squad” member wrote and stated during a town hall. “I outright reject the Biden administration’s defense of the embargo. It is never acceptable for us to use cruelty as a point of leverage against everyday people.”

(Video Credit: Associated Press)

Ocasio-Cortez’s comments echo those of Black Lives Matter who issued a statement that blamed the U.S. embargo for the chaos and instability in Cuba. Their statement, however, praised the communist government for historically granting “black revolutionaries” asylum.

Socialist Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) tweeted a similar response to the embargo, “All people have the right to protest and to live in a democratic society. I call on the Cuban government to respect opposition rights and refrain from violence. It’s also long past time to end the unilateral U.S. embargo on Cuba, which has only hurt, not helped, the Cuban people.”

Black Lives Matter also called for the United States to lift the sanctions and declared that it is a “cruel and inhumane policy instituted with the explicit intention of destabilizing the country and undermining Cubans’ right to choose their own government, is at the heart of Cuba’s current crisis.”

“No. This is not correct,” tweeted Debbie Mucarsel-Powell, who represented Florida in the House of Representatives for one term before losing her reelection bid last year. “It’s the failed policies of a communist regime that has violated human rights, imprisoned & killed dissidents. Cuban ppl -young & old- are risking their lives to rise up, we must listen to them. This is a matter of national security. The US must act.”

Many of today’s Democrats have lined up to parrot Black Lives Matter and Ocasio-Cortez over the embargo instead of focusing on the true source of Cubans’ misery – a brutal communist regime. They are screaming for President Biden to lift the embargo which will not solve the issue of freedom or the cruelty of a thuggish, totalitarian dictatorship. It will likely embolden the leadership in the country and deepen the suffering there.

Cuban President Miguel Diaz-Canel also blames the U.S. government and Cuban-Americans for stoking unrest in Cuba’s streets. He called on communist revolutionaries to fight back against the protesters. The communists are reportedly killing protesters. Many have disappeared and many more have been thrown into prisons.

The Cuban embargo was initially employed by President John F. Kennedy to fight communism and deter its spread. Modifications to the policy have allowed the U.S. to export food to Cuba.

The embargo was put into place after Fidel Castro overthrew the U.S.-backed regime of Batista in 1959. The U.S. has kept that policy in place to contain the communist regime both economically and diplomatically. Leftists in the United States have found common ground with the communists in Cuba, not with the freedom the people are demanding there.

Former President Barack Obama is the only president to attempt to normalize relations with Cuba. Former President Trump reversed those policies when he came into office and imposed new restrictions as well.

Under the Biden administration, the United States also voted against a U.N. resolution condemning the embargo against Cuba. Ocasio-Cortez and Democrats are now attacking Biden for not lifting the embargo.

Ocasio-Cortez’s call to lift the embargo was not well-received:

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Terresa Monroe-Hamilton
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