OPINION
By SILVIO CANTO, JR.
Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador (AMLO) has repeatedly taken swipes at Cuban-American Senators Marco Rubio, Ted Cruz and Bob Menéndez during his regular press conferences this month, piling on from criticism lobbed by him at the three in the past.
López Obrador has accused the three senators, along with other Cubans living in the United States, of wielding their influence to pressure the United States to continue its economic embargo on Cuba.
AMLO also cited Cuba in his convoluted arguments for not attending the U.S.-hosted Summit of the Americas in Los Angeles at the start of this month, as the nation, along with Venezuela and Nicaragua, was not invited due to concerns over human rights violations and a lack of democracy.
In response, Rubio tweeted back about López Obrador, saying, in Spanish: “Glad to see that the Mexican president, who has handed over entire sections of his country to drug cartels and who is a defender of tyranny in Cuba, a murderous dictator in Nicaragua and a drug trafficker in Venezuela, will not be in the United States this week.”
A huffy López Obrador answered back, indignant about Rubio having spoken the truth, categorically denying drug cartel issues in Mexico and hurling even more criticism at the three U.S. senators.
As my late mother used to say, “It all sounds a little nasty and personal.”
AMLO keeps coming up with excuses for the failure of Cuba’s socialist regime, finding a handy scapegoat in those Cubans who escaped his communist regime.
But what he doesn’t mention is the fact that the U.S. embargo does not stop Cuba from doing business with Mexico, or any other country, for that matter.
So why doesn’t López Obrador encourage more Mexican companies to trade with Cuba? Could it be that Mexico keeps getting stuck with Cuban promissory notes that it can’t collect on, i.e. having to forgive its debt!
Why is AMLO picking fights with three democratically elected U.S. senators?
Honestly, I don’t know. But I do know that the three senate Cubanos are giving it right back at him, and, as a Cuban-born American citizen myself, that makes me proud.
SILVIO CANTO, JR. is a Cuban-born U.S. citizen who teaches English at a north Texas college. He is the author of the book “Cubanos in Wisconsin” and has a daily online radio program and blog dealing with U.S. and Latin American politics, as well as sports and historic events, and is a regular contributor to American Thinker.