Democrats influenced by progressives don't want to 'go hard' on Cuba, says WaPo reporter

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Democrats struggle to find common ground over Cuban protests

Fox News congressional correspondent Chad Pergram reports on Democratic division amid Cuban protests and upcoming midterm elections

Washington Post political investigations reporter Toluse Olorunnipa observed that Democrats don't want to "go hard" on Cuba because they are being influenced by the more progressive members of their party who "agree" with many of the struggling country's socialist policies.

In recent days Cuban protesters have expressed anger over rising prices, shortages of goods and poor health care amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

"They are really being led by the progressive wing of the Democratic Party, and the progressive wing does not want to go hard against Cuba, against some of the things that the Castro regime may have been a part of it," Olorunnipa argued on CNN's "Inside Politics" Sunday.

"In part because there are some Democrats, there are some progressives who agree with some of those things," he continued. "They agree with universal health care, they agree with some of the programs that were in place in a more socialist kind of society."

Progressive darling Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., while blasting the communist regime's crackdown on media, speech and protest as a "gross violations of civil rights," also blamed part of the unrest on the U.S.'s 60-year-old embargo, which she called "absurdly cruel," as well as "additional Trump-era restrictions." 

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"We stand in solidarity with the Cuban people and condemn the suppression of the media, speech and protest," Ocasio-Cortez said in a statement. "We also call for an end to the U.S. embargo and additional Trump-era restrictions that are profoundly contributing to the suffering of Cubans." 

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Some Democrats, however, like former Florida Rep. Debbie Mucarsel-Powell, have distanced themselves from AOC's rhetoric, placing the blame squarely on the communist regime. 

"Cubans young and old are marching in the streets demanding freedom," Mucarsel-Powell said on "Your World." "The only government to blame here, the only culprit of what has been happening in Cuba, is the Cuban government, which has been a dictatorship; a failed Communist regime which has violated human rights for decades."

In her statement, AOC also took a swipe at the Biden administration for defending the U.S. embargo against Cuba. Olorunnipa suggested that Biden is trying to "push against" socialism after witnessing President Trump's 10-point bump in Latino support in the 2020 presidential election. Many Latino voters told the press that it was Trump's anti-socialist message that won them over, particularly in south Florida.

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Republican lawmakers like Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., have urged President Biden to take action, such as immediately providing uncensored internet access to the Cuban people.