Florida Democratic Party condemns dictatorships in wake of Sanders’s Castro comments

The Florida Democratic Party on Monday said it condemns dictatorships and “stands in solidarity” with those fleeing dictatorships after 2020 Democratic White House hopeful Sen. Bernie Sanders’s (I-Vt.) comments saying that not everything about Cuba was was bad under Fidel Castro.

The state’s Democratic Party chairwoman, Terrie Rizzo, released a statement criticizing dictatorships and echoed its support for people who have fled dictator-ruled countries.

“Florida Democrats condemn dictators who toppled democracies across the globe and stand in solidarity with the thousands of people who have fled violent dictatorships in Cuba, Venezuela, and Nicaragua,” Rizzo said in the statement.

“Candidates need to understand our immigrant communities’ shared stories, as well as provide solutions to issues that matter to all Floridians including access to affordable health care and rejecting a Trump economy that works only for the very rich,” she added. 

Now the statewide party pic.twitter.com/5F6lsrjnr3

— Matt Dixon (@Mdixon55) February 24, 2020

Several people, including a number of Sanders’s 2020 opponents, are piling criticism on the Vermont senator after he praised Castro’s literacy program on “60 Minutes” Sunday.

“We’re very opposed to the authoritarian nature of Cuba, but you know, it’s unfair to simply say everything is bad,” Sanders said.  

“Is that a bad thing, even though Fidel Castro did it?” he added, referring to the literacy program. 

Democratic contender and former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg condemned the Vermont senator for his remarks in a tweet, followed by former South Bend, Ind., Mayor Pete Buttigieg and former Vice President Joe Biden. 

Two Florida Democrats also spoke out against Sanders, with one comparing his comments to President Trump’s response to the deadly Charlottesville, Va., white supremacist rally when he said there were “very fine people on both sides.”