MIAMI, United States (EFE).— Three American congressmen of Cuban origin announced yesterday in Miami a series of measures that seek to prohibit, among others, the granting of visas to anyone involved in “the exploitation of Cuban doctors,” in addition to the use of federal funds to help small businesses on the island, known as MSMEs.
The initiative is contemplated in the fiscal year 2024 State Appropriations and Foreign Operations bill, which Congress is studying.
“We have included in a section (of the project) the denial of entry visa to the United States to any government official or international groups that traffic with Cuban doctors,” said Republican Congressman Mario Díaz-Balart at a press conference in which He was supported by leaders of the Hispanic community and exile.
Díaz-Balart thus referred to the inclusion in said project of legislation that he described as the “most positive and most aggressive to help our allies and confront our enemies.”
He warned that those who participate in the “exploitation of Cuban doctors will not be able to enter the United States, because they will be denied visas,” as well as their family members.
At the press conference held at the Honorary Museum of the 2506 Assault Brigade, in Hialeah Gardens, near Miami, other implemented initiatives were presented, such as the “absolute prohibition of taxpayer funds for entrepreneurship programs (MSMEs) in Cuba” .
In Díaz-Balart’s opinion, the MSMEs that benefit from funds “are selected by the Cuban regime,” so this action is justified. A “prohibition,” he said, “that the allies of the regime in the White House” did not like at all.
Other measures are “a 100% increase in communication transmissions to Cuba” through Radio and TV Martí and a 25% increase in support for the democratic transformation on the island.
He referred to the effort promoted by Republican congresswoman María Elvira Salazar to ensure that “the Cuban people have access to the internet.”
A job that can be carried out thanks to Congressman Carlos Giménez, despite the economic excuses that the Biden Administration has been making for not implementing it, Díaz-Balart complained.
Giménez stressed that Díaz-Balart has known how to find “where and how” the budget can be used to do so. That’s why, he added, we have allocated $43.5 million for the Open Technology Funding Program, an initiative that already exists.
The purpose of this measure is to contribute to “breaking the internet blockade in the world.”
“President Biden’s excuses that there is no money or he doesn’t know how to do it no longer exist,” said the Republican legislator.
They also announced actions to support “democracy in Venezuela, directing funds for human rights and civil society.”
They also warned that “before the funds can continue,” the US Administration “must present a report to Congress on the state of the bilateral relationship” between the US and Colombia.
The warning could materialize in the withdrawal of funds to Colombia “if its attacks on the rule of law continue and if, in addition, it continues to ally itself with tyrannical regimes in the region,” Díaz-Balart warned.
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2024-04-14 03:41:43