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Reps. Pramila Jayapal (D-WA) and Jonathan Jackson (D-IL) revealed on Monday that they had briefly visited Cuba over the Easter holiday and met with figurehead \u201cpresident\u201d Miguel D\u00edaz-Canel, saying they support greater engagement with the repressive Communist Party.<\/p>\n
The lawmakers\u2019 visit follows a flashy tour of Havana by a contingent of celebrities and international Marxist agitators known as the \u201cNuestra America\u201d convoy which brought personalities such as British Labor parliament member Jeremy Corbyn, leftist video game streamer Hasan Piker, and Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-MN)\u2019s daughter\u00a0Isra Hirsi to Cuba. The convoy members produced online propaganda defending the Castro regime, blaming the longstanding poverty and suffering on the island on President Donald Trump. In reality, Cuba has endured torturous communist repression for 67 years as a result of the Castro family hoarding the nation\u2019s wealth, leaving millions in the country to struggle.<\/p>\n International leftists have increased their advocacy for the Castro regime this year following the American arrest of Venezuelan dictator Nicol\u00e1s Maduro on January 3. Maduro, one of the regime\u2019s closest allies, had for years helped sustain the Communist Party\u2019s tourism and profit apparatus with lavish oil subsidies which disappeared following his arrest and extradition to New York. The lack of free Venezuelan oil prompted the Cuban regime to warn the world it has no jet fuel \u2014 substantially cutting off tourism profit for the Castro family \u2014 and has exacerbated blackouts in the country, as the wealthy no longer have gasoline to run their personal generators when the power grid routinely fails.<\/p>\n D\u00edaz-Canel, who is subordinate to nonagenarian dictator Ra\u00fal Castro, revealed on Monday that he met with Reps. Jackson and Jayapal in Havana and used their visit to condemn the United States for refusing to trade with Havana. American companies have been prohibited from doing business with the regime for decades in response to Fidel Castro\u2019s multi-billion-dollar mass theft<\/a> of American property following the 1959 coup d\u2019\u00e9tat that brought him to power. Americans are officially allowed to travel to the country and send humanitarian aid, therefore the \u201cembargo\u201d does not in any way block American shipments of food or medicine to regular Cubans.<\/p>\n