Two “Squad” Members – Ilhan Omar (D-MN) and Pramila Jayapal (D-WA) – traveled to Communist Cuba last month to meet with regime officials. A representative of Congresswoman Barbara Lee (D-CA) also accompanied them. Why? Did the White House sanction this trip??
“Representatives Jayapal and Omar traveled to Cuba last week, where they met with people from across Cuban civil society and government officials to discuss human rights and the U.S.-Cuba bilateral relationship.” Statement from the “Progressive Caucus” to the Miami Herald
There are a couple of problems with this statement: first, they went to Communist Cuba at the same time that Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov was also in Cuba. Also, neither the regime nor the “civil society” put out a statement revealing their presence. What’s really going on? Could this be a violation of the Logan Act? Yes, but no.
The Logan Act is an 18th-century law meant to crack down on unauthorized Americans acting on behalf of the United States during a dispute with foreign governments. It prohibits U.S. citizens from having private correspondence with a foreign government “with intent to influence the measures or conduct of any foreign government . . . in relation to any disputes or controversies with the United States, or to defeat the measures of the United States.
. Logan AcfOr…. did the leftist Biden White House plan this meeting and allow it to take place? Things that make you go “hmmm.”
Communist Cuba has “disappeared” or outright murdered thousands of its own citizens. It has run roughshod over every liberty group in its borders. They have crushed their own economy. The elite receives all the funds, the others nothing. Communism and socialism are deadly no matter how much the left pushes them. Freedom is nonexistent in those countries.
The Repression of Communist Cuba
“Other civil society groups have faced similar fates. The Ladies in White – an organization bringing together the mothers, daughters, sisters, and wives of political prisoners – faces routine weekly arrests featuring outsized police brutality for attempting to go to Catholic Mass to pray for their families. The leaders of the Free Yorubas of Cuba, an organization for anti-communist adherents of the Nigerian-origin santería religion, are facing severe health complications after languishing for years in prison. Artist collectives, journalists, and other active participants in civil society face similar repression and are highly unlikely to receive an audience with American members of Congress…Miami Herald
In reality, the “economic downturn” that has “led residents to flee the country” is a result of over half a century of communist plunder, brute mismanagement, and environmental decay. Dissidents have documented instances of the Castro regime rationing out rotten food to its impoverished citizens while hosting lavish feasts for well-connected foreigners. To help citizens through their poverty, the Castro regime has suggested they ingest rodent meat and cockroach milk.” Breitbart
The question remains: did the White House sanction this trip to do some covert “negotiations”? Or did these leftists violate the Logan Act?
cross-posted with Conservative Firing Line