Joe Biden said that the Cuban government has failed its citizens and dismissed communism as a “failed system”.
US President Joe Biden. (file photo)
In the wake of the ongoing protests against the Cuban government, US President Joe Biden said on Thursday that the US can take steps to restore internet in Cuba. Biden told the media in a joint press conference with German Chancellor Angela Merkel on Thursday, ‘They have stopped internet services. We are considering whether we have the technical capability to restore internet.
Florida Governor Ron DeSantis sent a letter to Biden on Thursday, requesting US assistance to provide Internet access to people in Cuba. At the same time, Senator Marco Rubio has also made such a request to Biden. DeSantis wrote in the letter that American companies have the capacity to provide Internet access in Cuba. He wrote, ‘Similar to American efforts to broadcast radio to the Soviet Union during the Cold War in Europe, the current government must spread true information to the Cuban people in Cuba through radio and television based in Miami’.
Biden administration reviewing Trump’s Cuba policy
Amidst the worsening economic crisis in Cuba, Cubans have taken to the streets to protest against the Communist government. Authorities have shut down internet and telephone service in an apparent attempt to quell widespread demonstrations fueled by social media platforms. Biden said on Thursday that the Cuban government had failed its citizens and dismissed communism as a “failed system”.
Biden said that ‘communism is a failed system – a universally failed system – and I do not see socialism as a very useful alternative, but that is another matter.’ The Biden administration is currently reviewing Trump-era Cuba policy but it is unclear when that review will be completed. Biden said the US was not currently considering sending aid to Cuba because of the possibility that they would be confiscated by the government.
Cuban protesters get Biden’s support
He also said the US would be ready to provide Cuba a “significant amount” of more COVID-19 vaccines if the US is assured that an international organization will distribute these vaccines. Earlier this week, Biden expressed support for protesters in Cuba and called on the Cuban government to listen to them.
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