Cruz: Obama Administration Has Strengthened ‘Tyrannical’ Castro Regime

Sunday on ABC’s “This Week,” Sen Ted Cruz (R-TX) said President Barack Obama’s administration has strengthened the “tyrannical regime” of the late Fidel Castro and his brother Raúl Castro in Cuba.

Cruz said, “What the Obama administration has done is strengthen Raul Castro. Raul is the dictator now. I asked my dad at dinner last night, ‘What do you think happens now that Fidel is dead?’ And he shrugged and said, ‘Raul has been in charge for years. The system has gotten stronger.’ What Obama has done is funneled billions of dollars to Raul Castro, which is being used to oppress dissidents. In 2016, roughly 10,000 political arrests occurred in Cuba – that is five times as many as occurred in 2010, when there were only about 2,000.”

“This tyrannical regime has gotten stronger because of a weak president and weak foreign policy,” he continued. “It is very much my hope and belief that with a new president coming into office in January, President Trump and a new administration, that U.S. foreign policy, not just to Cuba but towards our enemies, whether they are Iran or North Korea, will no longer be a policy of weakness and appeasement, but instead using U.S. strength to force and press for change.”

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