Florida allows Cuba protesters to shut down highway despite making it felony for Black Lives Matter
S E E D E D C O N T E N T
As anti-government protests in Cuba receive harsh reprisals from the authoritarian government, with many demonstrators arrested or missing, supportive protests have cropped up in Florida – and they have been given unusual leeway.
After last summer’s massive Black Lives Matter protests filled major cities across the US, Florida’s Republican governor, Ron DeSantis, signed a so-called “ anti-riot bill ” that cracked down heavily on various forms of protest, among them any protest that “willfully obstruct[s] the free, convenient, and normal use of a public street, highway or road”.
This is exactly what some Cuban solidarity protesters in the Miami area have been doing in recent days. The city’s Palmetto Expressway was brought to a standstill in both directions as a crowd of Cuban Americans and other supporters marched on the road to stand up for the rights of their counterparts in Havana, Santiago and elsewhere as they are beaten and detained by security forces.
As pointed out by the Miami Herald , the protest on the expressway technically put the protesters on the wrong side of the law. Under restrictive legislation signed by Mr DeSantis earlier this year, anyone who “endangers the safe movement of a vehicle traveling on a public street, highway, or road” risks a charge of “aggravated rioting”, an offence with a maximum sentence of 15 years’ jail time. And yet, it seems no arrests were made.
When it was passed, the law was denounced by many Democrats as a racist response to the scale and intensity of the protests following the murder of George Floyd – and that it appears to not be enforced now has not escaped scrutiny.
As the Cuban solidarity events unfolded, Mr DeSantis, who has developed a national profile as one of the Republican Party’s most popular conservatives, told the Herald that there is no equivalence between the protests underway in Cuba and those that unfolded in the US last summer, some of which saw widespread looting and damage to property.
“What is going on in Cuba in particular,” he said, “those are not simply normal, run-of-the-mill protests like we see here in the United States...they are trying to end the regime.
“So that is fundamentally different from what we saw last summer where people were burning down buildings – and this was fortunately not happening in Florida to a large extent – burning down buildings, looting, breaking windows and targeting law enforcement and all those things.”
This does not address why the law he signed is being selectively enforced. But Mr DeSantis’ declining to condemn the highway protests says something about the delicate balance of his state’s electorate – and his own stake in it.
The Cuban American vote has long been a crucial determining factor in statewide and presidential elections in Florida – most famously in 2000, when the case of Cuban child refugee Elián Gonzalez became a red-hot campaign issue and forced Al Gore into a failed act of political triangulation. GOP Senator Marco Rubio, himself a Cuban American whose parents immigrated to the US before Fidel Castro took power, also remains popular; during the current political crisis on the nearby island, he has been furiously tweeting and speaking out about the Cuban government’s authoritarian excesses, criticising the Biden administration for its supposedly weak response to the crackdown on peaceful protesters.
In 2020, Joe Biden failed to garner enough votes from the community to mitigate his losses elsewhere in the Sunshine State, which he lost to Donald Trump by a wide margin – this after Barack Obama won the state twice and Hillary Clinton lost it only very narrowly, even then defeating Donald Trump handily in the populous Miami-Dade County.
The Republican brand, conversely, has held up strongly in the area. Donald Trump took a hard line against the Cuban government, reversing much of the Obama administration’s plans to defrost the two countries’ relations. He won Florida in 2020 with a higher share of the vote than four years previously.
And then there’s Mr DeSantis, who is widely thought to be considering a presidential run in 2024, and the most likely heir apparent to Trumpism if the former president chooses not to run himself. In some speculative early polls, he performs as well or better than any other top Republican – provided Donald Trump is taken out of the field. As Florida’s sitting governor, Mr DeSantis would have a better chance than most of carrying the state in a future election, but no-one can take Florida for granted.
The current crisis, then, offers him a way to cater to a vital local constituency. And that he is allowing Cuban solidarity protesters to risk falling foul of a law brought in to curb a different movement, one whose members overwhelmingly would not vote for him, is unlikely to be much of a political problem.
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The 'Art' of being DeSantis.
DeSantis Signs Bill Ending Vehicle Driver Liability For Hitting Protesters
So run the pedajos down.
the temptation must pose a huge mental conflict for that party of xenophobes.
Don't care what you are protesting about, you should not be allowed to block public highways
This.
You have the right to protest. You do not have the right to involve me in your protest. I have the right to ignore you as I go about my day.
Agreed. Protest all you like but fuck off if that involves preventing me from going about my life.
Years ago, the Vons here was on strike and the employees were protesting there. I had honored their strike until then, but I had to get some things that my Mom and Pop stores just did not carry. Six of them decided to try to block me from entering. I told them that if they thought that I would not ram them with my cart to think again. Suddenly they parted like the Red Sea.
Hypocrisy, thy name is DeSantis.
See number 9 below
Oh!
Florida
RepublicansFascists are being hypocritical!I am s-o-o-o shocked!
yes because the national socialists and communists (Democrats) say it's perfectly OK for those from south of the border to come unabated, because they tend to vote democrat, but Cubans who tend to vote Republican are going to be sent back if they try to come for REAL asylum.
The whole country is s-o-o-o shocked s/
Gee... that's interesting. I haven't heard it before. Perhaps you could link to actual quotes?
US Homeland Security Secretary: Cubans who try to migrate to US during protests will be sent back to island
Now, where has he said that about those coming across the southern border?
Hint..(he hasn't)
Herald that there is no equivalence between the protests underway in Cuba and those that unfolded in the US last summer, some of which saw widespread looting and damage to property.
“What is going on in Cuba in particular,” he said, “those are not simply normal, run-of-the-mill protests like we see here in the United States...they are trying to end the regime.
“So that is fundamentally different from what we saw last summer where people were burning down buildings – and this was fortunately not happening in Florida to a large extent – burning down buildings, looting, breaking windows and targeting law enforcement and all those things.”
The big difference is that the BLM is a known bunch of destructive racially motivated urban punks and thugs. The people demonstrating for the freedom of the Cuban people from repressive communism...are not.
Well there is a stark difference between the Cuban protests and the BLM protests. The Cuban protesters are not attempting to destabilize, coerce, and subvert government in the United States. And the Cuban protesters are not protesting for themselves; they're supporting protests in another country. The Cuban protesters aren't a threat to our own democracy.
But even the Cuban protesters cannot be allowed to repeatedly disrupt and attack civil society in the United States.
What about the LAW? They broke the law by shutting down the highway. Is Florida only going to enforce laws when liberals break them and ignore them when conservatives or those that support them break said laws? LAWS apply to everyone in America.
Misdirection!
The lefties, as a whole, seem to have no problem breaking or ignoring laws they don't like...and pampering and protecting lawbreakers. And not surprisingly, none of the left wingers has seen fit to condemn the Cuban commies
Maybe America would be better off focusing on its own problems, which are not so few, instead of telling other nations how to run their countries.
Yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes
"Florida Allows Cuba Protesters To Shut Down Highway Despite Making It Felony For Black Lives Matter"
Is that not the topic? I thought by the title that was he topic not "Cuban commies." Your "comment " about misdirection in exactly what you have done with your post. The topic is the equal application of State (and Federal) laws. Do you believe that some groups are above the law? Since the laws in Florida were written in response to the BLM riots, why is it only applied to political and ethnic minorities that the Florida DA's and State's Attorney (Republicans) oppose? If this law is not being enforced equally what other laws are they bending for their political and social goals?
See we now have cause to believe that conservatives do not believe in equal JUSTICE FOR ALL, that some people are truly privileged and protected under our laws.
I see, so the American solution is to interfere in the domestic affairs of other countries - after all, nobody is as good as AMERICA, right? That's the best way to prevent other nations from catching up, or even surpassing the GREATEST GOD-GIVEN NATION THE WORLD HAS EVER KNOWN .
You're right, you didn't. Instead you pointed out the mistake of NOT interfering, and although you may have only meant Cuba, it is just as applicable for what America has (or has not as indicated by you) done elsewhere.
No, I didn't create that image, it's off the internet, so it is someone else's OPINION that I thought was amusing and in some respects quite valid, not my imagination.
No surprise that you, as an American, perpetrate the myth that people in other countries with other systems of government have given up "full control" of their lives to their governments. People in other countries may have less freedoms than Americans do (and you can see what that's getting them with virus counts rising in all 50 states) but believe it or not, they just might have all the freedoms that they need and want for a happy life, and I happen to be in a position to see that that is true.
The only time I've seen where ANY government in the world has "full control" of their people's lives is in a dystopian science fiction novel or movie.
You may be right concerning the primary intentions of most career politicians, but I think the world has been witness as well to the disasters that can be caused by those who have never had previous governing experience.
Who are those "so many"? The protesters in Hong Kong? I can only speak with actual knowledge about those who are where I live. Where I am I don't know of anyone who would want to go to America, except that maybe some students want to study in American universities but Chinese students go to many countries to study. Nobody I know has any desire whatsoever to go to America and you should be aware of why, but here are a FEW reasons:
1. In this morning's Microsoft Bing News, only TWO mass shootings were reported, but I'm sure there were lots more normal everyday shootings. You would have to be deaf dumb and blind to not be aware of the daily shootings in the USA.
2. Asians are experiencing a lot of hate crimes in America - the news here showed some of the recent attacks on Asians - very graphic, and the Chinese news sites don't hesitate to show it.
3. Whether you like my saying so or not, most of China is virus free, and there are no cases of it in the City-State where I live, and Bing news reported that cases are increasing in all 50 American States.
Why the hell would anyone from here want to go to America? Do you think Chinese people consider it important to be able to vote for lawmakers who are going to fight tooth and nail with other lawmakers to get anything done?
By the way, if the "so many" that you're talking about live in third world countries, or you're pointing at the immigrants coming from south of the USA, they were suffering in their home countries - and they've seen "the American Dream" on their TVs and movie theatres, and I can't speak for them.
Good post.
Most Americans are insular. There are lots of exceptions, of course... but most know little about the rest of the world. And care even less. They are convinced, deep down, that America is all they need to know about.
All the statistics in the world are pointless. All the anecdotes, too. Americans - regardless of political affiliation - have been brainwashed since the cradle.
It's unthinkable that foreigners might not desire to be American.
Unthinkable.
Buzz, I wish you would stop bashing my country daily.
China gives you a false sense of freedom and security and you know it. America was here for the Chinese during mass immigrations throughout our history. Do you know of any mass migrations of US Citizens to China? Fk no.
Give it a rest.
Of course they don't! Please tell me you understand why the Chinese media does that?
Well, thousands of unarmed people were murdered in a mass shooting by their own government and had their remains power washed into the sewers. Think that might be why people don't talk openly to you about their dissatisfaction?
LOL.. Ask all the thousands of Chinese nationals who spend fortunes each year to have their children born in America so they can be citizens..
But since they don't tell you about it, they don't exist, right?
I suggest that you research the conditions under which America allowed Chinese immigration.
It was ugly.
Very ugly.
Whereas American citizens need never worry about their government...
As many immigrants from the past where used for day laborers, yet they still wanted to leave China. Migration from China still exist.
How do you feel about China's current human rights violations?
I suggest you go over there and speak to China about it, if you dare!
Do you think that the differences between immigration conditions for Chinese or for Europeans are justified? How?
It's not MY China, I'm merely a temporary guest here, and NO nation in the world is utopian. AND as I have stated a few times already, If the news is so regulated how is it that I can watch and read every day, without a VPN or anything special, all the western news sources that I do, such as Canada Television News, USA Today, the MSN conglomerate of many American news sources such as Reuters, AP, The New York Times, Washington Post, for American News and the MSN conglomerate of news sources for World News, and even if I need a laugh - FOX News, and many others? Can you answer that? So if China happened to censor anything, there are LOTS of sources that LOVE to provide anything that happens in China - SOME of which is actually legitimate. I have said that I would have liked access to YouTube, but there are alternatives here.
China posts new cases in China that occur every day in the China Daily - sometimes none but never more than 20 or 30 new cases. The reason I believe it is because where I am (Chongqing - a City-State of around 32 million people) the few only cases here during the past year at least have been imported from elsewhere. Everything is almost back to total normal here - schools operating, theatres open, stores and restaurants running normally, only some people who want to be extra-safe wear masks, and because there still are SOME people in China who may be infected everybody is extra-careful and NOBODY COMPLAINS ABOUT IT, my bank and the subway require my temp to be taken and mask to be worn No anti-maskers or anti-vaxers in this country, and not because of government edict, it's because the people aren't stupid. So why do I rely on the figures? Because two frontline hospital and clinic doctors, one of whom is my best friend here who would never lie to me, tell me so, and I can see it's true with my own eyes. It's easy to extrapolate what is true here to the rest of China. In any event, it is a little better than reading the following in USA Today this morning...
All 50 states see rise in new coronavirus cases
In an ominous run not seen since the spring 2020 surge, new coronavirus cases rose in all 50 states for the fourth day in a row on a rolling seven-day average. In some states the increases were startling. New cases in Rhode Island almost tripled week over week, and Maine and Vermont's increases were almost as large. In Massachusetts, Alaska and Kentucky, new case counts more than doubled in one week, and Minnesota, Florida and Texas were right behind. The pace of deaths also is up sharply – 24.7% from its low point two weeks ago.
Maybe, I only got to read about the latest Chicago massacres so far - haven't read all the American news yet today.
That comment sounds as if it comes from an ultra-paranoid mentally ill person who should be hospitalized. Please provide me with a valid (not freaked-out) source where that came from. In any event how would (or even COULD) China destroy America without causing harm to itself?
Thank you for noticing, I am loyal only to my native land and its leaders in which I was born and continue to be a citizen. I proudly display that as my avatar for those who have the brains to realize what it means and are not looking to slander me.
I have no idea how many people move to China and it is not of any importance to me to even care. Long ago I spent a lot of time in the USA, travelling, touring, attending festivals, even owned a condo in Florida,. Today I wouldn't step foot in America, even to visit my son and his family. After all - "Fools rush in where angels fear to tread."
Thanks for this opportunity - it's been fun responding to you.
LOL. Sure, I'll stop being critical of America when Americans stop bashing China, provoking it and interfering in its domestic affairs and ALL political parties focus on improving the lives of Americans instead of fighting over every damned thing so nothing happens. After all, as you seem to feel, there are NO REASONS to be critical of America.
You know what, Sunshine? I used to LOVE America - travelled and toured probably more of it than most Americans, from Cape Cod to Hawaii, from Chicago to Miami, from NYC to Dallas, toured the White House and the Capitol Building, from Boston to San Francisco and did the Big Sur drive route, attended festivals of symphony and dance (Tanglewood), folk music and folk life (Newport Folk Festival - watched Dylan go electric, Philadelphia Folk Festival, Smithsonian Festival of American FolkLife, the Fox Hollow Festival in upstate New York)....even owned with my brother for a number of years a golf condo west of Hollywood Florida (2 story building - didn't collapse).
But times change, don't they....
AGAIN you want to talk history - as if you should be proud of yours...
Mostly from Hong Kong - I recall when there was a surge of them to Toronto when the Brits were going to hand HK back to the Chinese One of the kids became a good friend of my son back then. Went to pick up my son at their house one day - thought I was entering the Taj Mahal. I can understand their fear that the CCP would fleece them. Have you any idea how many billionaires there are in China that haven't been fleeced? And besides, lots of very rich Americans do the same - get themselves homes in other countries - or do you think Americans don't do that?
I never denied that but I also pointed out now the kind of media that I DO have access to .
You have no fucking idea what I believe and don't believe. I have praised China where it deserves it - such as the eradication of abject poverty, its containment of the virus, its technological and space advances, and I have criticized it, which I have posted on this site, when I felt it deserved it, such as the silencing of the original warnings about the virus, and even recently, about the censoring of Chloe Zhang, the director of Nomadland. I believe what I have seen with my own eyes and have no reason to disbelieve.
BULLSHIT
You can be sure I feel the same way about you.
LOL. Yes, all the access I've listed is insufficient in your eyes. And yes, I have the maturity and integrity to admit it. And as I said before you have NO CONCEPT about what I believe. My God, does ANYONE ELSE have any respect whatsoever for your comments, because I sure as hell don't. So don't bother replying to me again with even MORE ignorant comments or I'll just have to post an IMPASSE because this discussion has become a waste of my time.
Strange. This from today...............
So why the hammering of DeSantis? He doesn't seem to have given a special pass to me.
He scolded them. He did not have them arrested. BLM protesters that blocked freeways were arrested Cuban protesters were not. THAT IS THE DIFFERENCE.
Because DeSantis proposed the bill in the first place and has made hay based on it's provisions since before he even signed it into law. This is what he said in a news release when he signed the law:
He didn't mention the 'unless I agree with why you're breaking the law and want your vote' thingy.
Perhaps to those who don't know what the law actually says. Here is the pertinent section:
Note that there is NO provision for the Governor to unilaterally decide that a 'fundamentally different' reason for 'Obstruction of public streets, highways, and roads' somehow exempts offenders from being cited.
In short, DeSantis is failing to ensure that the Florida law that HE proposed and signed is being enforced with equity for ALL Floridians.
While he himself cannot write tickets, perhaps law enforcement should do their job and not NEED the prodding of the Governor. I suppose you would feel better if he stood at a podium and commanded them to hit the streets and "write those bastards up NOW!!!!"
Is it your posit that DeSantis doesn't have a phone Jim?
Surely that's a rhetorical question.
The man gets hammered for getting out of bed in the morning. He's not a Democrat, so everything he does (or in this case actually doesn't do) is somehow an outrage and crime against humanity.
If you block traffic all it does is make me want to run you over and start turning me against your cause.
nobody's going to be mowing down republicans in that state. they know the trumpsters would find some fucking loophole in the law de santis signed that says you can.
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