Cuban-American Rep. Carlos Gimenez (R-Fla.) called on President Joe Biden to publicly condemn the communist Cuban regime in an op-ed on Wednesday.
Published by Fox News, Gimenez’s piece compares the American fight for freedom from the founding to the tearing down of the Berlin wall to today’s fight — Communist Cuba.
“The American flag,” he wrote, “always has been, and always will be, a symbol of hope and optimism for a freer and more democratic society.”
As Americans and Cubans rally together against the oppressive regime, Gimenez hopes that Biden will take this opportunity to stand with freedom.
“I am calling on President Biden and his administration to ensure that we, collectively as a nation, condemn the communist Cuban regime for their decades of oppression and acts of violence against protestors,” Gimenez also said in the op-ed.
Communism in Cuba, he continued, has “led to misery, poverty, and stifled basic and fundamental human rights.”
For the Florida representative, this is more than an ideological disagreement — but a personal experience, as he and his family experienced communism first-hand after emigrating from Cuba, fleeing the Castro regime when he was only six years old.
Gimenez is not the only one to notice that Biden has yet to hold Cuba accountable thus far. According to Fox 13 - Tampa Bay, protestors in Florida started chanting the question “Where is Biden?” on Tuesday.
Florida state Sen. Annette Taddeo (D) joined in recognizing the importance of Biden’s response to this moment.
“It’s really about the people in Cuba who need to hear it,” she said, Fox News reported. “The words of the president of the U.S., be it Republican or Democrat, should matter.”