Earlier this month, the people of Cuba were subjected to even harsher Internet censorship than they've been facing, after the authoritarian government made Decree-Law 35, Human Rights Watch warned. While Cubans are kept in the dark, one of their top officials took to Twitter on Friday to mock Gov. Ron DeSantis (R-FL).
The official in question is Bruno Eduardo Rodríguez Parrilla, who is a member of the Communist Party of Cuba and has been the Minister of Foreign Affairs since 2009.
Cuban Communist regime official (“fidelista”) posting memes from his government account, attacking @GovRonDeSantis for his stance on parents’ rights and forced-masking.
— Christina Pushaw (@ChristinaPushaw) August 28, 2021
Meanwhile in the UK, Ireland, Sweden, etc — their governments agree with Gov. DeSantis on this issue. https://t.co/RyhAGYe7Wk pic.twitter.com/A5Mz0T7RK6
I guess this is another example of what @marcorubio said, that the communist regime elevates the most incompetent and unprofessional people as long as they’re ideological fidelistas and/or can leverage nepotistic connections.
— Christina Pushaw (@ChristinaPushaw) August 28, 2021
Oh wow. Remember when @CharlieCrist met Bruno Rodriguez Parilla? Now the Cuban Communist regime mouthpiece is interfering (clumsily) in a U.S. election to help his friend Charlie ?? pic.twitter.com/mHdU9Qcjwe
— Christina Pushaw (@ChristinaPushaw) August 28, 2021
The governor's press secretary, Christina Pushaw, brought attention to the tweet, as did another account, "DeSantis Derangement Syndrome."
Rep. Charlie Crist is a once Republican governor of Florida turned Independent turned U.S. Democratic congressman representing the state. He is one of several Democrats running against Gov. DeSantis in 2022.
According to Steve Contorno with Tampa Bay Times, back in 2019, "Charlie Crist quietly visited Cuba as tensions over Venezuela escalated." Despite him "quietly" doing so, Parrilla tweeted about the visit.
I met with Democrat Congressman @RepCharlieCrist. We exchanged on current status of bilateral relations, its challenges and other international issues. I reiterated #Cuba's willingness to have respectful relation with #US. pic.twitter.com/G2Xo5cyb9h
— Bruno Rodríguez P (@BrunoRguezP) April 26, 2019
As Pushaw highlighted further, Parrilla had also promoted censorship in the United States over Twitter.
Charlie Crist’s friend — the Communist Cuban Minister of Foreign Affairs — is concerned about online disinformation. I guess that’s why his Communist regime blocked Cubans from using the internet. https://t.co/JyXgMIiPmS
— Christina Pushaw (@ChristinaPushaw) August 28, 2021
As Human Rights Watch detailed about the Internet censorship:
(Washington, DC) – A new decree and accompanying legislation announced by the Cuban government severely restricts freedom of expression online and threatens users’ privacy, Human Rights Watch said today. Governments in Latin America, as well as the European Union and the United States, should urgently expose this attack on free speech and press Cuba to repeal it.
On August 17, 2021, the government made public Decree-Law 35 and several accompanying norms regulating the use of telecommunications, including the internet and radio, and the government’s response to “cybersecurity incidents.” The decree, which has the stated purpose of “defending” the Cuban revolution, requires telecommunications providers to interrupt, suspend, or terminate their services when a user publishes information that is “fake” or affects “public morality” and the “respect of public order.”
Sen. Rick Scott (R-FL) issued a press release on August 19 in reaction to the news, where he again called on President Joe Biden to take action and support the Cuban people. The senator also spoke at an American Conservative Union CPAC rally last month outside the U.S. Capitol in support of the Cuban people, where he and other speakers denounced Biden's slow response.
Sens. Marsha Blackburn (R-TN) and Bob Menendez (D-NJ) have co-sponsored bipartisan legislation to provide Internet access to the Cuban people.
While Biden did eventually call out communism as the evil which it is, he and his administration were criticized for a delay in a proper response after the Cuban people bravely took to the streets across the island to protest the Communist regime.