Cuban President Miguel Diaz-Canel stands with former Cuban president Raul Castro, left, and former President Trump, right. (Adalberto Roque/AFP via Getty Images, left/Joe Raedle/Getty Images, right)
"Under Cuba’s brutal and corrupt dictators, the Cuban people are suffering terrible food shortages, energy blackouts, poverty, political repression and religious persecution," he added.
"I want the people of Cuba to know that we are watching what is happening in Santiago very closely, we are watching it every single minute of the day," Trump said. "We are with you."
The communist regime has come under intense pressure as the economic situation deteriorates there. Miguel Díaz-Canel, 63, became president in 2019, taking over from Raúl Castro, 92, who still effectively leads the 65-year-old dictatorship.
Protests have erupted in Cuba over energy and food shortages, with calls growing for the military to side with the people and for the Communist regime to come to an end. The U.S. Embassy urged the Cuban government to respect the protests in a post on its Facebook page.
The regime has sought assistance from the World Food Programme (WFP), asking for powdered milk and other items.
"Under my administration, we will return to being very strong on the oppressors. Unlike Crooked Joe Biden, who has been very weak on the communists, I stand with the Cuban people," Trump went on to say.
Fidel Castro was a former leader of Cuba. (Sven Creutzmann/Mambo Photography/Getty Images)
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"It was also cynical, as we said publicly, and hypocritical because it was referring to issues that are occurring in Cuba in which there’s an import and responsibility from the U.S. government," de Cossío said, calling the comments "disrespectful."
The U.S. has had trade and other financial embargoes on Cuba largely since the early 1960s, though certain exceptions permit the export of food products to the island nation so long as they are used in the private sector and not by the government.
The State Department in January reissued an increased caution warning for travelers to Cuba due to crime and violent crime including armed robbery and homicide.
Fox News’ Caitlin McFall and Bradford Betz contributed to this report.
Michael Dorgan is a writer for Fox News Digital and Fox Business.
You can send tips to michael.dorgan@fox.com and follow him on Twitter @M_Dorgan.
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