President Joe Biden delayed taking a hard look at our concerns in Latin America and the Caribbean – Florida’s back yard – most significantly, Cuba, Haiti and Venezuela, whose constant political and economic upheaval have an outsize impact on South Florida.
Since taking office, Biden rightly has been preoccupied with freeing America economically and emotionally out of the quicksand of COVID-19 and making nice with G7 world leaders.
Now, with the dramatic – and historic – events of the past few days in Cuba and Haiti, Biden likely has a case of whiplash.
A day after Sunday’s street demonstrations in several cities across the country, Cuba went dark on Monday because of internet outages and disrupted cell phone service. Yes, the Cuban regime can do that easily. Cuban Americans in Miami who had joined in with their own demonstrations on Sunday couldn’t tell if the protest had continued. Neither could the international media.
Cuban exiles, members of the Assembly of Cuban Resistance, held a news conference in Miami to show their support and ask the international community, led by the United States, “to protect Cuba from bloodshed,” said Orlando Gutierrez-Boronat, head of the umbrella group.