Lindsey Graham says Biden is a 'deer in the headlights when it comes to standing up to oppression' as he slams his response to Cuba unrest
A senator has said that President Joe Biden is 'like a deer in the headlights' amid the ongoing unrest in Cuba.
Demonstrations that erupted Sunday have seen thousands of Cubans in the streets, although Biden did not make a statement about the unrest until Monday.
Lindsey Graham, a Republican senator from South Carolina, said Biden is 'like a deer in the headlights when it comes to standing up to oppression'.
Speaking on Fox News' 'Hannity,' Graham said that the people of Cuba need him to speak up and say that they 'stand with your right to demand freedom'.
A senator has said that President Joe Biden (pictured) is 'like a deer in the headlights when it comes to standing up to oppression' amid the ongoing unrest in Cuba
He added: 'This is a moment for Joe Biden to stand up for freedom in the face of oppression and communism and thus far he's AWOL.'
Cubans have been voicing grievances against shortages of goods, rising prices and power cuts, and some protesters have called for a change of government.
Graham said: 'I would send a signal to the Cuban government that we're not going to sit on the sidelines as you destroy people in our backyard, and we need to give voice to freedom. America is the symbol of freedom to most everybody in the world.
'To President Biden, where are you when the people of Cuba need you the most?'
He called on Biden to take the opportunity to 'destroy communism in our backyard', adding that history will be on his side.
Meanwhile, Cuban authorities confirmed Tuesday that one person has died during demonstrations that have shaken the island in recent days by protesting over food shortages, high prices and other grievances against the government.
Lindsey Graham, a Republican senator from South Carolina, said that the people of Cuba need him to speak up and say that they 'stand with your right to demand freedom'
The Interior Ministry said in a statement that Diubis Laurencio Tejeda, 36, died Monday during a clash between protesters and police in the Arroyo Naranjo municipality on the outskirts of Havana.
The demonstrations in several cities and towns were some of the biggest displays of antigovernment sentiment seen in years in tightly controlled Cuba, which is facing a surge of coronavirus cases as it struggles with its worst economic crisis in decades as a consequence of US sanctions imposed by President Donald Trump’s administration.
In the United States, demonstrators expressing solidarity with the thousands of Cubans - who waged a rare weekend of protests around their island nation - shut down a stretch of a major South Florida expressway Tuesday.
The large group gathered at a busy Miami intersection chanting support for the Cubans, who had taken to the streets in the communist nation Sunday to air grievances about poor economic conditions and other complaints.
Demonstrations that erupted Sunday have seen thousands of Cubans take to the streets, although Biden did not make a statement about the unrest until Monday
A few miles away, hundreds of supporters gathered for hours Tuesday evening at a park. The peaceful crowd waved flags and cheered on the efforts of island protesters.
Miami Mayor Francis Suarez, a 43-year-old Miami-born lawyer whose father was the first Cuban-born mayor of the South Florida city, told Fox News on Tuesday that the option of military air strikes ‘has to be explored.’
It comes after Miami Mayor Francis Suarez said Biden should consider airstrikes on Cuba in support of Havana dissidents as supporters took to the streets in cities across the US on Tuesday to show solidarity with anti-communist protesters.
Talk of possible American military action in Cuba prompted warnings Tuesday from Iran, Russia and China.
In Moscow, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov said the Kremlin 'stressed the inadmissibility of foreign interference and other destructive actions that are fraught with the destabilization in Cuba.'
A spokesperson for the Chinese Foreign Ministry in Beijing said 'the US embargo is the root cause of Cuba's shortage of medicines and energy.'
'China firmly opposes foreign interference in Cuba's internal affairs, firmly supports what Cuba has done in fighting COVID-19, improving people's livelihood and upholding social stability, and firmly supports Cuba in exploring a development path suited to its national conditions,' Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Zhao Lijian said.
A large group gathered at a busy Miami intersection chanting support for the Cubans, who had taken to the streets in the communist nation Sunday to air grievances about poor economic conditions and other complaints
Iran, which has also faced economic sanctions imposed on it by Washington, echoed the sentiments of Russia and China.
'In this situation, where the United States is primarily responsible for the many problems created for the Cuban people, it is trying to appear as a supporter of the Cuban protests and has tried to interfere in the internal affairs of this country in a blatant violation of international rules,' Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Saeed Khatibzadeh told reporters Tuesday.
Mayor Suarez, a 43-year-old Miami-born lawyer whose father was the first Cuban-born mayor of the South Florida city, told Fox News on Tuesday that the option of military air strikes ‘has to be explored.’
'What should be contemplated right now is a coalition of potential military action in Cuba, similar to what has happened ... in both Republican and Democrat administrations,' Suarez said.
Demonstrators in New York's Times Square on Tuesday hold placards during a rally held in solidarity with anti-government protests in Cuba
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