Florida Democrats lashed out at Bernie Sanders in a rare statement criticizing a candidate for the party’s presidential nomination, after the socialist Vermont senator praised elements of Fidel Castro’s communist regime in Cuba.
Florida Democratic Party Chairwoman Terrie Rizzo, the top Democrat in a state, which has an influential Latino population, on Monday specifically slammed dictatorships in Cuba, Nicaragua, and Venezuela, expressing support for people fleeing those countries.
“Florida Democrats condemn dictators who toppled democracies across the globe and stand in solidarity with the thousands of people who have fled violent dictatorships in Cuba, Venezuela, and Nicaragua,” Rizzo wrote. “Candidates need to understand our immigrant communities’ shared stories, as well as provide solutions to issues that matter to all Floridians including access to affordable health care and rejecting a Trump economy that works only for the very rich.”
Sanders, whose father immigrated from what is now Poland in 1921, told CBS’s 60 Minutes over the weekend that it would be “unfair to say everything’s bad” under “the authoritarian nature of Cuba.” The legacy of the late strongman Castro, who seized power in 1959, has been carried on by his younger brother, Raul Castro.
“When Castro came into office, you know what he did? He had a literacy program,” Sanders said of the elder leader.
While Sanders, 78, has spoken positively about the Castros in the past, his sentiments are receiving fresh scrutiny as he cements his status as the 2020 Democratic presidential front-runner because it could hurt his chances in crucial, diverse primary states, such as California and Texas, as well as general election battlegrounds, including Florida and New Jersey.
Although Sanders has received criticism from high-profile Republican Cuban Americans in Congress, such as Sens. Marco Rubio of Florida and Ted Cruz of Texas, members of his party, including 2020 Democratic rival Joe Biden, have also not been shy about voicing their displeasure at his remarks.
“I’m hoping that in the future, Senator Sanders will take time to speak to some of my constituents before he decides to sing the praises of a murderous tyrant like Fidel Castro,” freshman Florida Rep. Donna Shalala tweeted.
Florida Rep. Debbie Mucarsel-Powell added his statement was “absolutely unacceptable.”
“The Castro regime murdered and jailed dissidents, and caused unspeakable harm to too many South Florida families. To this day, it remains an authoritarian regime that oppresses its people, subverts the free press, and stifles a free society,” she wrote on Twitter.
