María Elvira Salazar: “President Ronald Reagan warned in 1985 that America has an unrelenting obligation to halt communist penetration in our…”

“President Ronald Reagan warned in 1985 that America has an unrelenting obligation to halt communist penetration in our hemisphere. If we fail to meet this obligation, we will send the unmistakable signal that the greatest power in the world is unwilling and incapable of stopping communist aggression in our own backyard. Right now we are facing that scenario in the islands of Cuba and Haiti. History teaches us that the current threats in our hemisphere must be addressed with the utmost seriousness, for these issues go to the heart of American security and American history. I stand here today to ensure that once again we learn from history and understand that the turmoil in our hemisphere in America's own backyard can and must be stopped or the price we pay will be dear. Let's focus on Cuba and Haiti. The stakes are incredibly high. The Cuban people live in a perpetual cycle of misery and despair at the hands of their communist oppressors. They are deprived of basic necessities, like food and electricity, living in literal darkness for hours a day, a product of the communist regime's intentional rolling blackouts. The regime has adopted the slogan ``patria o muerte'' or ``patriotism or death'' while subjecting the Cuban people for the last 60 years to conditions that will surely lead them to the latter--death from deprivation.…”