Florida Governor Asks Raul Castro to Consider Democracy

MIAMI, FL — Less than a month since the death of Fidel Castro, Florida Gov. Rick Scott reached out to the late dictator’s brother, Raul Castro, on Tuesday to ask that he consider bringing “absolute freedom and democracy” to the Communist nation.

“As you know, following the death of your brother Fidel, the streets of Miami were packed with people celebrating,” the governor wrote in a letter to the Cuban president. “The celebration represented the hope for an end to the decades of torture, repression, incarceration and death that you and your brother have caused the people of Cuba.”

Former Cuban president Fidel Castro died on Nov. 25 at 90, sparking celebrations throughout the Cuban-American community in Miami and other parts of Florida, where there is a large population of Cuban immigrants. Singer Gloria Estefan took to social media to defend the celebrations.

But while many people have expressed hope, Scott said that nothing has changed in the weeks following the dictator’s death on the island nation, which is just 90 miles off Key West, Florida.

“Let me be specific with a few examples,” Scott told Castro in the letter that was released to the press on Wednesday. “You recently imprisoned the artist El Sexto for expressing his views following the announcement of your brother’s death. It is reported that he is in isolation without food or clothing. Dr. Eduardo Cardet, the national coordinator for the 'Movimiento Cristiano Liberación' (MCL) was imprisoned. And, just a few days ago Berta Soler, the leader of the Ladies in White, was detained.”

Scott’s attempt to persuade the Cuban leader to democratic reforms comes ahead of next month’s arrival of the Trump administration and follows a prediction by a panel of Florida International University experts on Cuban-American relations that “something big” is likely in the works.

“Like your brother, you are known for firing squads and imprisonment of those who oppose you,” Scott penned in English and Spanish. “You have said that you plan on retiring in 2018, but the leadership that you have picked to come after you is designed to keep your oppression intact, and to keep your people trapped.”

He also pointed to the visit of Pope Francis to Cuba, when Raul Castro suggested that he may return to the church again and pray.

“My prayer for you and the Cuban people is that you listen to Pope Francis and focus on bringing absolute freedom and democracy to Cuba,” Scott said. “I pray that you open Cuba to freedom of the press and religion; release all political prisoners; provide unfettered access to the Internet; allow ownership of land; provide reparations to those whose property was confiscated; bring all Cuban military home and allow for free and fair elections with international supervision.”

Scott reminded the leader that he has a “tremendous and historic opportunity right in front of you” to take Cuba in one of two directions:

“You can allow a new era of freedom and opportunity for Cuba. This path will almost overnight provide all Cubans with a dramatic improvement in their quality of life at every level,” he said. “The people of Florida and of the entire United States are ready to help make your country an overnight success with unprecedented levels of trade and capital investment. Every human heart longs for freedom, and your people long for freedom.”

In the alternative, the governor said, “you can continue on the other path. This path is best characterized by oppression, tyranny, wrongful imprisonment, torture, and murder. This is the path that hates freedom, the path that does not trust every man and woman to make their own decisions, the path that opposes all those who honor and worship God.”

Scott equated the current path with “poverty” and said that it is where tyrants live like kings and the Cuban people live like peasants.

“But, right in front of you is the opportunity to embrace freedom and bring in a new era of unprecedented prosperity for your people,” Scott said. “I have no doubt that the people of Florida stand ready to flood Cuba with prosperity.”

Finally, the governor acknowledged that most people may find his approach naïve.

“No one thinks you will choose the way of freedom, the way of democracy, the way of peace,” Scott ended, saying, “People will mock this letter and call it naïve. But, for the sake of the Cuban people, I pray change will come.”

Photo by Calixto N. Llanes via Wikimedia Commons