“Here is the difference between Democrats and Republicans: While Democrats go to Cuba to meet leaders of a Communist, anti-democratic dictatorship, Republicans support the people in their quest for a free and democratic Cuba,” Rep. Carlos Giménez (R-Fla.) posted on X on Monday afternoon.
What prompted this post? A couple of his fellow congresspeople, Pramila Jayapal (D-Wash.) and Jonathan Jackson (D-Ill.), decided to take a five-day vacation (they called it a “congressional delegation”) to Cuba so they could find new ways to bash Donald Trump. That is literally why they were there. Well, that and to show their support for the regime.
“As the only member of Congress actually born in Cuba, I say shame on you to Rep. Jayapal and Rep. Jackson for supporting this repressive and brutal regime,” Giménez continued. “As supposed defenders of democracy, your hypocrisy knows no bounds.”
Here is the difference between Democrats and Republicans:
While Democrats go to Cuba to meet leaders of a Communist, anti-democratic dictatorship, Republicans support the people in their quest for a free and democratic Cuba.
As the only member of Congress actually born in Cuba,… pic.twitter.com/jVen9QqLLn
— Rep. Carlos A. Gimenez (@RepCarlos) April 6, 2026
In another post, Giménez condemned the entire Democrat party. “The Democratic Party is the party of communist dictatorships,” he said. “Then they wonder why our community rejects them. We will never support those who back the most murderous, cruel, and long-lasting dictatorship in the history of our hemisphere.”
The Dems say they were there to “assess the humanitarian situation.” But they didn’t really go there to learn. They went there with an agenda, with opinions already formed. And they came away with those opinions intact. They met with “President” Miguel Díaz-Canel and Foreign Minister Bruno Rodríguez and walked away using the same language the communist regime does.
Nothing to see here! Everything’s on the up and up.
“The illegal U.S. blockade of fuel to Cuba — 90 miles south of the United States — adds to the longest embargo in world history and is causing untold suffering to the Cuban people. The United States prevented a single drop of oil from entering Cuba for over three months. This is cruel collective punishment — effectively an economic bombing of the infrastructure of the country — that has produced permanent damage. It must stop immediately,” the two reps said in a statement.
The problem is that the “economic bombing of the infrastructure” of Cuba was happening long before Trump stopped the flow of Venezuelan oil to the country in early January and threatened secondary tariffs on anyone who provided oil to the regime. It has nothing to do with the United States and everything to do with nearly seven decades of communism, repression, and alliances with U.S. adversaries, like China, Russia, and Iran.
Díaz-Canel posted some pictures of the meeting on social media, along with similar rhetoric. “Upon receiving U.S. congressmembers Rep. Jayapal and Rep. Jackson, I denounced the criminal damage caused by the blockade, particularly the consequences of the energy siege decreed by the current U.S. government and its threats of even more aggressive actions,” he wrote. “I reiterated the willingness of our Government to sustain a serious and responsible bilateral dialogue, and to find solutions to the existing differences.”
I think Trump and Marco Rubio have already made up their mind on what the solution is, but I digress
Al recibir a los congresistas estadounidenses @RepJayapal y @rep_jackson denuncié el daño criminal provocado por el #bloqueo, en particular las consecuencias del cerco energético decretado por el actual gobierno de EE.UU y sus amenazas de acciones aun más agresivas.
Reiteré la… pic.twitter.com/AI0CFlSM2n
— Miguel Díaz-Canel Bermúdez (@DiazCanelB) April 6, 2026
In their joint statement, the two members of Congress continued shilling for the regime:
The Cuban government has sent many signals that this is a new moment for the country. While we were there, President Diaz-Canel released over 2,000 prisoners. The Cuban government has begun to liberalize its economy with significant reforms, including allowing Cuban American entrepreneurs to invest in private businesses in Cuba. Entrepreneurship has grown substantially, with small- and medium-sized private businesses now comprising large parts of the economy. Significantly, the Cuban government has invited in the FBI to conduct an independent investigation of a lethal speedboat shooting. The remaining obstacles to progress in Cuba now rest with the United States changing our outdated, Cold War-era policy of coercive economic measures and military pressures against Cuba.
Nope. Not true. Let’s take a closer look at this propaganda. I’ll go through it line by line.
First, this is not a “new moment for the country.” The regime is resorting to desperate survival tactics because it’s under pressure and failing. It saw what we did to Nicolás Maduro. It saw what we did in Iran. It knows it’s next. If it was truly a “new moment,” there would be free elections, the 1,200 plus political prisoners would be released, independent journalists wouldn’t be scared to file reports using their own names, and people could protest without being monitored, harassed, and arrested.
Second, the prisoners released were mostly common criminals — young people, the elderly, foreigners. As I said, it’s estimated that over 1,200 political prisoners remain in prison. People like this young man, Duannis Dabel León Taboada. He was arrested for participating in protests in July 2021 and sentenced to 14 years in prison for “sedition.” His mother, Jenni, goes to visit him regularly, but she said for the last three months, the guards will not let her see him. They only take the food she brings and make her leave.
La madre del preso político Duannis Dabel León Taboada, Jenni M. Taboada, denunció que lleva tres meses sin poder verlo en prisión, a pesar de presentarse en las visitas correspondientes.
Según expresó en redes sociales, en su más reciente intento, el pasado 4 de abril, solo le… pic.twitter.com/AKKhvSvF8z
— Observatorio Cubano de Derechos Humanos (@observacuba) April 6, 2026
Third, the regime is allowing Cuban-Americans and other exiles to invest in the private sector now. That’s true. But this is misleading. Because the recent decision to allow this was, again, a desperation play under Trump’s pressure. In the past, exiles weren’t allowed to invest in the country, but the regime’s thinking was that changing that rule would help money flow into the private sector — Trump’s sanctions have largely cut off the regime’s access to hard currency, whether it’s preventing them from reselling Venezuelan oil or the collapse in tourism revenue. Exiled Cuban business leaders remain skeptical and rightfully so. The allowance comes with typical regime stuff: high taxes, heavy state oversight, and arbitrary rules and laws. Plus investing would just reward the regime, and there’s a reason these people left Cuba in the first place.
Next up, while entrepreneurship has increased in recent years, data suggests that that it hasn’t actually helped the economy. In fact, between 2022 and 2025, the Cuban economy actually shrank at a rate of 2% (some say more) per year despite the fact that over 20,000 new businesses opened, including 10,000 private micro, small, and medium enterprises. CiberCuba calls it “Castro-like Sudoku” and blames “state interventionism and the obstacles that the apparatus imposes on various productive forms to control and limit their growth are at the root of this anomalous behavior.”
And yes, the FBI did arrive in Cuba earlier this month to investigate the speedboat shooting that took place several weeks ago, but they haven’t been given free rein. Must of it remains a mystery, as the regime controls the investigation just like it does everything else.
Finally, this is a typical manipulative regime talking point. Cuba’s problems aren’t the result of any embargo. They’re the results of decades of communism and tyranny. Trump and Rubio’s policies are the exact opposite of “outdated,” because for the first time in the history of the Castro regime, we have U.S. leadership who is making real progress toward a free Cuba. And they’ve done it, so far, without “military pressures,” so I’m not sure why they snuck that in there.
The only thing “outdated” about this situation is a couple of leftists heading down to the island to sip champagne with dictators and pretend that communism is cool while the everyday people starve. That’s a story we’ve heard far too many times before.
Heck, we heard it just a couple of weeks ago when Code Pink, Hasan Piker, and a bunch of other commies went down to enjoy their poverty porn safari and throw themselves a concert while most of the island suffered a total blackout.
But at least those guys paid their own way. Jackson and Jayapal traveled on the backs of the U.S. taxpayers.
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