Sen. Ted Cruz said Sunday that President Obama's trip to Cuba indicates that the world has abandoned political prisoners held under the country's communist regime.
Cruz, a Cuban-American and an original critic of the United States' detente with the island nation, wrote in a Politico op-edthat the media spectacle of the president's visit will cast a shadow over the reality of humanitarian conditions there.
"[P]olitical prisoners languishing in dungeons across the island will hear this message: Nobody has your back. You're alone with your tormentors. The world has forgotten about you," Cruz wrote. "They will not be on TV, rubbing elbows with the Obamas or left-wing politicians like Nancy Pelosi. There will be no mojitos at the U.S. Embassy for them. Raul Castro denies their very existence."
The Texas senator also charged that the president betrayed his own words in saying that he would go to Cuba only if he were confident that "we're seeing some progress in the liberty and freedom and possibilities of ordinary Cubans." Cruz cited a weekend rescue of refugees off the Florida coast and recent statistics about politically-related detentions to argue that no such progress has occurred.
"I have news, Mr. President: No progress has taken place. Cuba is going backward," he wrote.
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12.22.2024