President Joe Biden and his critics don’t agree on much — but he got one thing right during his press conference with German Prime Minister Angela Merkel on Thursday.
“Communism is a failed system. A universally failed system, and I don’t see socialism as a very useful substitute,” Biden said. “Cuba is, unfortunately, a failed state and repressing their citizens.”
Earlier, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis and other officials had pressed the White House to support efforts to restore internet service to anti-government protesters in Cuba, even advocating the use of giant balloons as floating Wi-Fi hotspots to allow images of dissent to stream unabated from the authoritarian nation.
Cuban authorities blocked social media sites in an apparent effort to stop the flow of information into, out of, and within the country after thousands of Cubans began taking to the streets last weekend to protest the communist government’s lack of COVID-19 vaccines and basic goods. The country is going through its worst economic crisis in decades.
“We obviously have to stand with the people of Cuba against the communist dictatorship,” DeSantis said at a press conference in Miami, adding that restoring access to the internet is vital to supporting the people of Cuba.
Biden responded later Thursday with his denouncement of communism and said his administration is assessing whether it has the technology to maintain internet access for Cubans.
Partial internet access was restored in Cuba earlier this week, but, as of Thursday, cellphone data was still not fully restored.
The protests in the island nation have sparked an outpouring of support in Florida, which is home to the nation’s largest community of Cuban exiles. Throngs of people in Miami, Orlando, and the Tampa area have rallied in support, sometimes shutting down major highways and roads.
DeSantis said every option should be explored, including using offshore and satellite technology to supply internet service. One option being considered is using balloons to provide connectivity. The Republican governor also suggested using the U.S. Embassy in Havana as a kind of hotspot.
“The one thing that communist regimes fear the most is the truth. And if we’re able to help Cubans communicate with one another — also communicate to the outside world — that truth is going to matter,” DeSantis said. “And so, Mr. President, now’s the time to stand up and be counted.”
It’s unclear how the U.S. government or any other entity, public or private, might keep internet service uninterrupted.
“We need the political willingness from the Biden administration,” said Republican U.S. Rep. Maria Elvira Salazar, whose parents were Cuban exiles. “And if the federal government considers that they cannot pay for the resources, the Cuban American community will.”
Biden said that the U.S. is considering ways to help Cubans — as long as that aid is not undermined by the communist government.
Biden said the administration won’t ease a ban on remittances to Cubans because they believe “it is highly likely the regime would confiscate” them, and that while the U.S. is prepared to send “significant amounts” of a COVID-19 vaccine to the country, they’d have to be administered by an international organization in such a way that average citizens could get them.
“They’ve cut off access to the internet — we’re considering whether we have the technological ability to reinstate that access,” Biden said.
The Associated Press contributed to this article