Cuba is on the brink of possible freedom. But the communists are cracking down. If the Biden administration cares at all about liberty 90 miles from our shores it will help the Cuban people throw off the yoke of Marxist oppression. So far, Biden has dealt in only weak words. Senator Marco Rubio, Republican of Florida, knows more than that is necessary to do the job.

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Rubio: “Across the island of Cuba, we are witnessing an unprecedented and organic moment. Sixty-two years of misery, censorship, repression and socialist lies have boiled over into grassroots protests by the Cuban people across the nation. In provinces ranging from Havana to Pinar del Río, Holguín, Matanzas, Cienfuegos, Camagüey, Santiago de Cuba and other municipalities, Cubans are peacefully protesting the brutal communist dictatorship of Raúl Castro and his puppet president Miguel Díaz-Canel.

In the United States, however, many have so far failed to understand what has truly driven the Cuban people to stand up to decades of oppression. President Biden remained silent over the weekend while one senior State Department official laughably attributed the protests to ‘concern about rising COVID cases/deaths & medicine shortages.’ Manipulative Twitter trends are following their lead and many U.S. news outlets, to the extent that they’ve covered the protests at all, have largely undermined the historic nature of what is occurring in Cuba.

Let’s be clear: food, medicine and gas shortages are sadly nothing new in Cuba. The regime’s disastrous COVID response is the predictable result of a corrupt government. Instead of listening to America’s legacy media, we should take the protesters at their word. Cubans across the country are waving the American flag as a beacon of hope and chanting, “Freedom!” and “Down with the dictatorship!” This is not just a response to the COVID outbreak, but an unambiguous rejection of six decades of suffering under totalitarian socialism and communism. After waiting nearly 24 hours, President Biden finally voiced his support for the Cuban people on Monday. But that is not enough. Now, his administration must develop an action plan that makes clear the U.S. stands with the people of Cuba in this pivotal moment. So far, they’ve missed the mark.

The administration can right this wrong first by unequivocally conveying that a mass migration, like the 1980 Mariel boatlift, will not be allowed to occur and that any such action will be treated as hostile. The Biden administration should also convene a United Nations Security Council meeting, as well as engage with allies in the European Union and the Organization of American States to provide support to the Cuban people.

The communist regime in Havana has already shut down internet access on the island. It has done so in order to silence the voices of the Cuban people and prevent news and developments on the island from reaching the rest of the world. The Biden administration has options to override this shutdown and provide uninterrupted internet access to the Cuban people. It must act to do so immediately…

What the Cuban people really want is the freedom to live a normal life in the country they call home. They wonder, if Cubans like my own parents, can move abroad and achieve their dreams, why aren’t they able to on their own home island? The protesters are offering a clear answer to that question: the tyrannical, communist regime under which they have suffered for six decades makes it impossible.  Now, it’s time for America and the rest of the world to stand with the Cuban people as they make their voice heard and demand their God-given rights.”