Title: Tyrannical Cuban Government

Summary: Condemning the tyrannical Cuban government and the Tampa City Council member and Hillsborough County officials who, on March 3, 2023, entertained the Cuban ambassador and other Cuban officials at a dinner meeting in Tampa in complete disregard of the brutality of the Cuban regime and the blood that has been shed by those who rose up in opposition, etc.

Full Text:
WHEREAS, after flirting with relationships with the United States and other nations, the Cuban government in 1960 officially became an ally of the former Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (Soviet Union), with Fidel Castro officially announcing the alliance on March 1, 1961, and WHEREAS, the relationship with the Soviet Union, which was founded on communist principles that saw churches closed and schools indoctrinating school-age children, continued until the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991, which began the  Special Period  of financial and political crisis in Cuba, and WHEREAS, Fidel Castro engaged, and the regime continues to engage, in abominable human rights violations, including the execution or indefinite detainment of many persons opposing the regime, and WHEREAS, on February 24, 2008, Fidel Castro handed over the reins of the Cuban government to his brother, Raul Castro, who was elected president by the National Assembly, and today, Miguel Diaz-Canel, who succeeded Raul Castro as president in 2018, serves in that capacity and as secretary of the Central Committee of the Cuban Communist Party, and WHEREAS, on January 12, 2021, the United States Government officially listed Cuba as a state sponsor of terrorism alongside Iran, North Korea, and Syria, and WHEREAS, the United States Secretary of State has determined that Cuba repeatedly provided support for acts of international terrorism, and WHEREAS, on July 11, 2022, a series of protests against the Cuban regime erupted on the island, marking the first time in years that ordinary Cubans dared to publicly rise up against their government over political oppression, including the arrests of thousands who were never heard from again, food shortages, rising prices of goods and commodities, lack of access to medicines, and unreliable electricity, and WHEREAS, Cubans all over the world joined their compatriots in protests against the oppressive and tyrannical Cuban government, shouting,  Patria yvida!  appropriating Fidel Castro s slogan of  Patria omuerte,  made famous during his takeover of Cuba, and WHEREAS, on March 3, 2023, a group of Cuban officials, led by Cuban Ambassador Lianys Torres Rivera, had a dinner meeting with local business leaders, Tampa City Council member Guido Maniscalco, Hillsborough County School Board member Karen Perez, and Hillsborough County Clerk of Court and Comptroller Cindy Stuart at an upscale Tampa restaurant, and WHEREAS, as word spread of the unprecedented meeting, a protest erupted at the restaurant, with outraged protestors confronting the ambassador and her delegation, shouting at them and demanding to know why tens of thousands of Cubans are being held as political prisoners by their own government in a brazen violation of human rights laws, and WHEREAS, it is unconscionable that local government officials anywhere in this state or the United States would sit down to an upscale dinner with Cuban government officials who have betrayed their own people and who flout common decency and hold democratic principles in contempt, and WHEREAS, to say that these local government officials demonstrated poor judgment is an understatement, given that this state is home to the largest Cuban exile population of freedom seekers in the United States, many of them residing in the Tampa Bay area, and WHEREAS, it is inexcusable that these officials would break bread with members of an oppressive and tyrannical government that routinely violates its citizens  human rights, does not allow its citizens to have a voice in government, imprisons any person that opposes the government, and routinely rations food, and WHEREAS, representatives from an oppressive and tyrannical foreign government should not be entertained by local officials, and these officials in particular should be called out by name and condemned for their actions, NOW, THEREFORE, Be It Resolved by the Senate of the State of Florida: That the actions of Guido Maniscalco, Karen Perez, and Cindy Stuart and all others involved in the March 3, 2023, dinner meeting with Cuban Ambassador Lianys Torres Rivera and her delegation, who represent an oppressive and tyrannical government, are condemned. BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Florida Senate stands with all Cubans residing in Florida who have escaped communism and those still in Cuba who are searching for a means to escape systemic oppression. BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Florida Senate stands with the Cuban exile community to honor  Patria yvida!  and support freedom for the oppressed.