Law to combat oppression in Cuba passes House Foreign Affairs Committee

Florida Congresswoman María Elvira Salazar, who chairs the Western Hemisphere Subcommittee, announced Tuesday that her bipartisan bill called the "Fighting Oppression Until Castro's Reign Ends Act" (FORCE Act) successfully passed the process of House Foreign Affairs Committee (HFAC) review.

The bill, H.R. 314, which was reintroduced earlier this year, is intended to prevent President Biden from normalizing relations with the Cuban regime until freedom and democracy are restored to the island.

The legislation requires the Cuban communist regime to meet the requirements of Section 205 of the FREEDOM Act (P.L. 104-114) before being removed from the State Sponsors of Terrorism List, the Republican congresswoman said in a statement.

Those requirements include the release of political prisoners, authorization of investigations of Cuban prisons by the relevant international human rights organizations, transition from the Castro regime to a system that guarantees freedom of expression, and the commitment to hold free elections. and fair, explained the congresswoman.

This bill conforms to current U.S. law and obliges the regime to meet the same requirements necessary to lift the embargo and its accompanying sanctions.

Florida Republican Sens. Marco Rubio and Rick Scott have also introduced the "FORCE Act" in the Senate.

Rep. Salazar represents Florida's 27th congressional district, which includes the city of Miami and its surrounding suburbs and beaches.

She is a member of both the House Foreign Affairs and Small Business Committees.