Chapeando: Red Florida | Cubadebate (English)

I like to start our podcast with something that happens across the street, but today everything revolves around something that cannot be underestimated because it has an important place in international politics. We are, of course, talking about the midterm elections that will take place this Tuesday in the United States, electing 36 governors and replacing the House of Representatives and a third of the Senate. At the coalition level, the red tide that the Republicans claim is happening in nearby Florida, where the political forces supporting the Cuban counter-revolutionary industry are based, but it remains wishful thinking.

Analyzing the significance of the day, Reinier Duardo noted that the reelection of Governor Ron DeSantis, Senator Marco Rubio and Representative Maria Elvira Salazar heralded a deepening of hate speech and intensified blockades.

There, Trump’s legacy remains particularly alive, while women like Nancy Pelosi – who welcomed Juan Guaidó and praised him enthusiastically in Congress – are accused of being a leftist who is trying to kill her. This confirms what Cuba has said more than once: it is up to us to break the blockade, because newly elected officials and their lobbyists will do everything to make the situation worse. The neighbor’s policies continue to lead the far right, at least in the areas that are closest to Cuba.

Barbara Betancourt agrees with that standard, pointing to signs that emerged before the vote, the excitement of haters, threatening comments about politicians who disagree and calls for support for DeSantis, one of the most incompetent politicians in the country. He is the governor of a failed state, as he demonstrated during the pandemic and more recently before, during and after Hurricane Ian. Even worse: DeSantis is a presidential candidate, just like Trump was before he became president, something many thought was impossible. It’s dramatic fact that does no one any good except his followers, who already know how much hate is in them.

As Republicans rejoiced, America TV aired a story that the anchor called unusual: a Cuban stole a fishing boat from his workplace and headed for Cuba because “he was tired of life in the United States…” He got stranded in North American waters, asked for help, and was arrested.

While it is common to migrate in the opposite direction, there are also many who cannot stand living in the United States after migration and try to return. An interesting detail is that he stole a boat. Why? Suppose he did not have the money to buy a ticket, or he thought that if the Miami media praised those who stole boats in Cuba, they would also get the same treatment on their journey.

All that is really known about the last person to leave Cuba in a stolen small plane is that he must be repatriated and the plane returned. Cuba has repeatedly decried the consequences of economic strangulation measures to stimulate migration, making legal pathways more expensive or closed, over the years. This is just another reason to completely reassess the immigration issue and the policies that have long facilitated these practices.
In conclusion, it is very important to restore the agreement and let the United States do its part. Just like Cuba.

(Author: Arleen Rodríguez Derivet/Cubadebate)