Amidst a nationwide blackout that has plunged Cuba into darkness for over a week, a top Republican lawmaker is sounding the alarm about the dangers of socialist policies, drawing a direct link between Cuba’s crisis and the ideology espoused by some prominent figures in the US. Rep. Carlos Gimenez, R-Fla., the only Cuban-born member of Congress, delivered a stark warning, arguing that the Cuban people’s suffering under the Castro regime is a direct consequence of 65 years of leftist, authoritarian rule.
“We’ve got six days now when the entire island of Cuba has been blacked-out,” Gimenez said, describing how the Cuban government has resorted to 20-hour regional blackouts to conserve power. “But at least they had some electricity [then]. Now the entire island is blacked-out. This is all due to the incompetence of the system: the socialist-communist system that the Cubans have had…”
The dire situation in Cuba, Gimenez argues, serves as a stark warning against the growing influence of socialist policies in the US, particularly those championed by Vice President Kamala Harris and Senators Bernie Sanders and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez. “Bernie Sanders, AOC, and now Kamala Harris is [sic] to the left of Bernie Sanders: I’ve always said they’re all socialists,” he said, dismissing the distinction often made between “democratic socialism” and more traditional forms of socialism. “They’re trying to bring this kind of government, this style of living, to the United States. And that’s why I’m vehemently against it. Cuba’s a great example. Nicaragua is also a great example, and so is Venezuela … of what these regimes do.”
Gimenez further criticized the stance taken by Sanders and Ocasio-Cortez on Cuba, accusing them of expressing sympathy for the regime. “You see Bernie Sanders always apologizing for what’s happening in Cuba. Same thing with AOC, and not so much with Kamala Harris. She’s being a little bit smarter than that. But since she is to the left of Bernie Sanders, you can tell she’s sympathetic to these regimes. That’s the kind of system they want to bring to the United States of America.”
The power crisis in Cuba began with the failure of the Antonio Guiteras Power Plant, leading to a complete collapse of the electrical grid. The situation was further compounded by Hurricane Oscar, a Category 1 storm that made landfall over the weekend in Guantanamo state. While some power has since been restored in Havana, Cuba’s state utility reported that only 200 of the roughly 3,000 megawatts of electricity needed to power the country was being generated as of Monday.
Gimenez highlighted the suppression of dissent under the Cuban regime, stating that citizens are warned against demonstrating during the crisis and dissidents are routinely jailed for expressing their views. “That’s to instill fear in the Cuban people so that they don’t rise up against this dictatorship. That’s what communist-socialist governments do. They’re totally incompetent. This communist-socialist government doesn’t work, hasn’t worked, and will never work.”
Gimenez emphasized that the consequences of the regime’s actions are felt by all Cubans. “They’re all miserable — go talk to the people in Cuba and see if they would rather have a socialist system where they want freedom like we have here in the United States.”
While Cuba does not have free and fair elections, Gimenez points to the mass emigration of Cubans, Nicaraguans, and Venezuelans to the US as a clear sign of their dissatisfaction with their own governments. “They’re already voting … with their feet.”
Gimenez underscored the importance of the Cuban-American vote in Florida, particularly in Miami-Dade County, where over 1 million Cuban-Americans reside. He also noted the tendency of Cuban-Americans to lean conservative, citing the 2020 upset victory of Rep. Maria Elvira Salazar, R-Fla., over former Clinton HHS Secretary Donna Shalala in the Kendall and Little Havana area.
Looking ahead, Gimenez advocates for a tougher stance on the Cuban regime, arguing that humanitarian assistance alone is ineffective and only serves to enrich the government. “The only thing that they understand is force. They don’t understand you being nice to them. You can’t be,” he said. He believes that a shift toward democracy in Cuba, coupled with a strong US alliance, would not only deny China and Russia safe harbor in a strategically vital region but also bring much-needed freedom to the Cuban people.
Fox News Digital reached out to the Harris campaign, Ocasio-Cortez and Sanders for comment.