During an interview aired on Friday’s broadcast of PBS’ “Firing Line,” Rep. Mario Diaz-Balart (R-FL) argued that the recent protests against the Cuban government aren’t about health care or COVID, but are because “the Cuban people want freedom.”

Diaz-Balart said the Cuban people are “not asking for remittances. They’re not asking for aspirin. There’s no health care for the Cubans, unlike what you may hear. But they’re not asking for that. What they are asking for, clamoring for is one thing, libertad, freedom. After 62 years, the Cuban people want freedom.”

He also stated, “[T]his has nothing to do with COVID. This has nothing to do with tourism. This is all to do with the people being fed up with being slaves, being abused, being murdered.”

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