![]() But dying dictators eventually die," Bush told his audience, arching his eyebrows and gesturing with his hands. They are an unfortunate, sad, tragic relic of Cuba's past. "The Castro brothers are on the wrong side of history. His 20-minute-long address began in fluid Spanish, with shout-outs to prominent Cuban-Americans and their families-then transitioned to English for a withering denunciation of President Obama, business and political leaders who favor lifting sanctions against Cuba, and, of course, Fidel and Raul Castro themselves. From the start of his speech, it was clear that Bush felt right at home with this crowd and knew exactly what they wanted to hear. Both got standing ovations.Īnd yet, amid all these Cuban-American luminaries, it was a non-Cuban, Jeb Bush-serving as the luncheon's keynote speaker-who was greeted by the longest standing ovation of the afternoon. Carlos Curbelo and Florida's first Hispanic lieutenant governor, Carlos Lopez-Cantera-addressed the gathering in person. Two Cuban-American politicians on the rise-Republican Rep. ![]() Robert Menendez, chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, spoke via video so did soon-to-be-presidential candidate Sen. The event had no shortage of Cuban-American star power. It was the annual luncheon of the U.S.-Cuba Democracy PAC, a political action committee dedicated to rewarding politicians who take a hard line against communist Cuba and punishing those who do not. ![]() On a December afternoon last year-weeks before President Obama would announce that he was normalizing relations with Cuba-a group of about 800 Cuban-Americans gathered in a gilded ballroom at the Biltmore Hotel in Coral Gables, Florida. ![]()
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