Miami Republicans: Cuba and Nicaragua Next on Trump’s Hit List

After the arrest of Nicolás Maduro, U.S. Rep. Mario Díaz-Balart predicts more despots will soon be deposed in the Western Hemisphere.

Asked about the futures of regimes in Cuba and Nicaragua, he suggested they may be short.

“I was convinced that these terrorist regimes would have not survived another four years of Donald Trump,” Díaz-Balart said. “Let me say it now in a different way, I am convinced that the two remaining ones will not survive.”

The Hialeah Republican, the longest-serving member of Florida’s congressional delegation, made the remarks at a Doral press conference alongside U.S. Reps. Carlos Giménez and María Elvira Salazar. The three Cuban American Republicans all praised Trump’s administration for ending the 15-year reign of Maduro, the communist leader who was captured by U.S. forces and taken to legal custody in New York on Saturday.

Salazar, who chairs the House Western Hemisphere Subcommittee, called the development historic.

“Today is definitely a glorious day, not only for the Venezuelans, but for the Cubans and for the whole hemisphere,” she said. “We feel it probably more than anybody else, because we know how hard it’s been, but we have a fantastic leader called President Trump, and thank God that, because of him, justice caught up with Maduro, and a new chapter has begun.”

Giménez, who was among the first notified by Secretary of State Marco Rubio of Maduro’s arrest, defended the legality of the unilateral action. He cited numerous indictments of Maduro on drug trafficking charges, the justification of a bounty issued by the U.S. Justice Department years ago. He took issue with Democratic colleagues questioning the operation on any level.

“To my colleagues on the Left, well, the only thing I got to say is, are you kidding me?” Giménez said.

“Are you really trying to defend a narco-terrorist dictator? You’re coming out to the defense of a narco-terrorist dictator that has killed, has blood on his hands, American blood. Are you out of your minds completely? Why? Because it was President Trump, and President Trump can’t do anything right. No, President Trump does a lot of things right, and this is one of them.”

Salazar stressed that the removal of Maduro didn’t represent the hostile takeover of the nation, and that Venezuelans will rule their own country. The lawmakers said the arrest marks a moment of transition.

“The President said it this morning, very clearly. He wants Venezuela to be free, prosperous and secure,” Salazar said.

“They have the largest reserves of oil in the world, so they’re going to be able to pay for their own reconstruction. They’re not going to be asking and asking or begging any other country, including ours, to lend them money. They have enough resources to do that. So that also means no more Russia, no more China, no more Hezbollah, no more Iran, no more Hamas in Venezuela.”

While the three were effusive in praising Trump, Díaz-Balart did push back when one reporter at the press conference alluded to Trump saying on Saturday that Venezuelan opposition leader María Elvira Machado “doesn’t have the support within, or the respect within the country.” Díaz-Balart shut down a reporter who asked why he and his colleagues were not willing to support Machado as the next leader of Venezuela.

“I will not tolerate putting words in my mouth, or my colleagues mouth,” Díaz-Balart said.

“I’m convinced that when there are elections, whether there are new elections or there’s a decision to take the old elections, the last election that the next democratically elected President of Venezuela is going to be María Corina Machado.”

Giménez noted that he and Salazar attended the event in Norway when Machado was presented the Nobel Peace Prize.

Salazar reminded that Maduro’s regime forced Machado to be removed from the ballot as a candidate for President before an election in 2024. Instead, the opposition candidate chosen to run was Edmundo González, and most international observers and the U.S. State Department believe González won an overwhelming majority over Maduro. Nevertheless, Maduro remained in power and was sworn into a new term last year.

“This was a non-conventional war,” Salazar said. “Maduro was a non-legitimate President.”

–Jacob Ogles, Florida Politics