The official newspaper of the Cuban Communist Party, Granma, published a column Wednesday accusing Cuban-Americans of supporting the “genocide” of their family on the island and expressing disgust at Florida voters for their embrace of “democracy” and “individual freedom.”
The article went on to conclude, similar to propaganda in government websites run by fellow rogue states China and Iran, that President Donald Trump and his rival Joe Biden were not ideologically distinct, as they both support the continued existence of the United States.
Granma also featured a column from October on its front page Thursday that dismissed the American electoral system as a “circus” marred by “lies, lowliness, deceit, [and] cheating.”
Cuba is a communist one-party state with no legitimate enfranchisement of its people. The Castro regime maintains a rubber-stamp legislature for which citizens can vote, but the Party has final approval of any name on the ballot and few, if any, races are contested. The Castro regime claims itself to be more democratic than America because it maintains a strict socialist system that keeps the island impoverished and deprives citizens of individual freedom through state violence.
“It’s obvious that each contestant, above all, aspires to win votes, given that Florida is a vital state for that purpose,” author Antonio Rodríguez Salvador wrote. “But in this way, one observes the unfortunate reality of compatriots who, with enthusiasm, applaud a dreamed-of genocide of those who were their neighbors, their old schoolmates, or relatives still left in Cuba.”
Rodríguez appeared to be referring to sanctions on Cuba, a policy known as the “embargo,” that has been in place since late dictator Fidel Castro took over the island in 1959. In theory, the embargo bans Americans from doing business with Cuba, including tourism. In reality, corporations and extremely wealthy individual Americans have flaunted the embargo for decades through various loopholes, including exceptions for activities such as “aid to the Cuban people.” Under President Barack Obama, the United States allowed tourism on cruise ships and with tour groups through a category of exception called “people to people” travel, which President Trump revoked.
In contrast to the loose nature of the American embargo on Cuba, the Castro regime imposes a strict embargo on the United States, preventing Cuban nationals from traveling there without explicit Communist Party permission and preventing Cuban-Americans from freely sending basic food and goods not commonly available in Cuba due to its failed socialist economic system.
Rodríguez went on to claim that Cuban-American voters support “lynching all communists” and supported limiting remittances to Cuba, which largely go through Cuban regime-controlled systems and thus profit the communists.
“One recalls the media carpet-bombing that the German people received in the 30s and 40s of the last century, that ended in the Holocaust of the Jewish people. There are things that appear grotesque if not for, suddenly, noticing behind them the hand directing a chorus of hate from which people with academic backgrounds and even authors do not escape,” Rodríguez concluded.
Granma‘s ire towards Cuban-Americans appears to be a response to the overwhelming support that President Trump received from that community in Florida on Tuesday, cementing his victory in a critical swing state. Trump clinched significant percentages of the Hispanic vote generally around the country in states where he had fared less well in 2016, but gains in south Florida, and particularly Miami-Dade County, vastly improved his results in the state. Trump campaigned heavily on opposing socialism and Biden’s ties to prominent socialists like Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT).
The communist writer’s article was largely dedicated to making the case that Trump and Biden are not distinct presidential candidates, arguing, “the candidate of the oligarchy always wins.” ”
“They call ‘democracy’ over there the race between two gentlemen who represent the same economic and ideological interests, selected by an elite that bets with a lot of money on both sides, and that takes for a debate a type of show where lies and personal insults abound,” the column claimed.
Elsewhere in Cuban media, Granma declared the election a “circus.”
“Presidential candidates in the U.S. have to have the resistance to withstand a competition where all is fair: low blows, personal attacks, race, gender, lies, lowliness, deceit, cheating,” Granma told its readers, a largely captive audience given the nature of the Communist Party. This article also made the claim that the two-party system was not diverse: “It doesn’t matter if they are blue or red, Democrats or Republicans, they represent one party, that of the very rich.”
The 2020 presidential election remains contested at press time. Swing states like Wisconsin, Michigan, Pennsylvania, Arizona, and Nevada remain in play. President Trump has verbally challenged results in several states, including taking legal action in Michigan.
COMMENTS
Please let us know if you're having issues with commenting.