Near the end of Wednesday's CNN/Univision Democratic debate, Jorge Ramos gave Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders his "Welcome to Miami" question, asking if the candidates supported President Obama's detente with Cuba and considered Raul Castro a president or a dictator. Clinton said that she backs opening relations with Cuba, viewing it as a way to bring democracy to the island nation. She called Raul and Fidel Castro "authoritarian and dictatorial."
Maria Elena Salinas tweaked the question for Sanders, noting that in the 1980s he had offered praise for Sandinista leader Daniel Ortega (who is once again leader of Nicaragua) and playing a video of him saying positive things about Fidel Castro, then Cuba's leader. She asked if Sanders wanted to take back his positive assessments of Castro, an especially unpopular figure in South Florida, and Ortega. Sanders talked about decades of U.S. policy in Latin America, including support for many coups. When pressed by Salinas, he said that "it would be wrong not to state" that the Castros have done good things with medicine and education.
Clinton jumped in, noting that Sanders also said in the same interview that Cuba had undergone "a revolution in terms of values," and stating that if those values include jailing and killing people for expressing political beliefs, "that is not the kind of revolution of values I want to ever see anywhere." That got a big cheer from the South Florida audience.
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
-
Is the UK government getting too close to Big Tech?Today’s Big Question US-UK tech pact, supported by Nvidia and OpenAI, is part of Silicon Valley drive to 'lock in' American AI with US allies
-
Russia’s war games and the threat to NatoIn depth Incursion into Poland and Zapad 2025 exercises seen as a test for Europe
-
Eurovision faces its Waterloo over Israel boycottsTalking Point Five major broadcasters have threatened to pull out of next year’s contest over Israel’s participation
-
House posts lewd Epstein note attributed to TrumpSpeed Read The estate of Jeffrey Epstein turned over the infamous 2003 birthday note from President Donald Trump
-
Supreme Court allows 'roving' race-tied ICE raidsSpeed Read The court paused a federal judge's order barring agents from detaining suspected undocumented immigrants in LA based on race
-
South Korea to fetch workers detained in Georgia raidSpeed Read More than 300 South Korean workers detained in an immigration raid at a Hyundai plant will be released
-
DC sues Trump to end Guard 'occupation'Speed Read D.C. Attorney General Brian Schwalb argues that the unsolicited military presence violates the law
-
RFK Jr. faces bipartisan heat in Senate hearingSpeed Read The health secretary defended his leadership amid CDC turmoil and deflected questions about the restricted availability of vaccines
-
White House defends boat strike as legal doubts mountSpeed Read Experts say there was no legal justification for killing 11 alleged drug-traffickers
-
Epstein accusers urge full file release, hint at own listspeed read A rally was organized by Reps. Ro Khanna and Thomas Massie, who are hoping to force a vote on their Epstein Files Transparency Act
-
Court hands Harvard a win in Trump funding battleSpeed Read The Trump administration was ordered to restore Harvard's $2 billion in research grants
