At the Versailles Restaurant, John McCain would order a cortadito and a Cuban coffee. There, John McCain would address politics along with the relations between the United States and Latin American countries.
“I’m very obviously enthusiastic over our recent victories. We’re coming to Florida with some wind at our back. We’ve got some hard campaigning in the next 8 days or so. I’m confident we can win here in this very important state…Our base begins here in Miami with the Cuban-American community,” McCain said.
He addressed issues such as the war in Iraq, immigration, and the economy. But the Cuban-American audience asked him about his views on policies and relationships with countries in Latin America such as Venezuela and Cuba.
McCain said that he would make a move to indict Fidel Castro for participating in the Cuban Missile Crisis. He said: “I would be prepared to open that investigation immediately. It seems to me that the radio intercepts show clearly that the shoot down of that airplane was orchestrated as an act by the Cuban government.”
Then McCain was asked about the relaxation of rules for Cuban exile families to visit their families back in Cuba. However, McCain answered that he had reservations about that part and was not sure how to resolve the issue.
“I worry about in that case is where does it begin and where does it end. We want every humanitarian assistance to be provided,” McCain stated in that regarded by starting off with that.
He would explain: “I understand Cuba, I was there in the Cuban missile crisis, I understand these issues, but it would be entirely inappropriate for me not to rely on the knowledge and background of the people who live it every single day. The challenges of trying to rid that wonderful and beautiful island of one of the most repressive regimes in history that not only has done what they’ve done to the Cuban people, but they continue to try to be state sponsors of terrorism.”
While implying he viewed Fidel Castro as a threat, McCain said that he did view President Hugo Chavez as a threat.
“I believe that Hugo Chavez is a threat in the region. … The best way that we can handle Mr. Chavez in my view is to become independent of his oil. … So my job as president of the United States is to get this country of ours into oil independence,” McCain said in regards to Hugo Chavez.
Leave Your Comments