Newt gave a Latin American policy speech this morning where he advocated for a Cuban Spring so that the people of Cuba could be free, something he said has probably not occurred to Obama even though he’s been preoccupied with the ‘Arab Spring’.
But Newt, noting that 50 years of Cuban dictatorship is enough, isn’t talking about passive advocacy either, but rather a policy that would use every non-military tool at his disposal to push Cuba out of its dictatorship.
My commitment is very simple. I will use every non-military tool that President Reagan, Prime Minister Thatcher, and Pope John Paul II brought to bear on the Soviet empire. …I just want to suggest to you that an all out American effort in alliance with the Cuban people to facilitate the future of Cuba and a clear message to younger members of the dictatorship that there will not be a succession to Castro, that if they want a positive prosperous future it will be in a democracy, because we are in fact not going to allow a negative future of a new generation of dictators replacing the Castro brothers.
He also spoke briefly about blocking the Iranian threat in Latin America:
I think we have to make very clear there will not be an Iranian penetration of Latin America and we will take whatever steps are necessary to block the Iranians from acquiring military bases or other assets in Latin America because it is an intolerable threat.
And probably his biggest applause came when he declared Hugo Chavez a mortal enemy of the United States:
I think we need to say calmly and pleasantly to Chavez we know who you are, we believe what you say, and therefore we regard you as a mortal enemy of the United States.
Here is the full video:
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