How Alexander Vindman is planning to counter Trump’s talk of victory in Cuba
As President Donald Trump promises that massive change is coming to Cuba, Florida Democratic Senate candidate Alexander Vindman is already planning how to combat the rippling political implications among voters in South Florida.
“I think there is an opportunity to do something real for the Cuban-American community. What the president is proposing is not that,” Vindman told the Miami Herald during an interview at the Ruth’s List Democratic fundraiser Friday evening in Aventura.
His argument against Trump’s perceived wins against authoritarian strongmen is one he’s planning to repeat on the campaign trail. It offers new insight into how Democrats may combat the potential boon in support for Republicans Trump could gain in South Florida by achieving a decades-long dream of toppling the Castro regime.
“I think some people want to punish that regime and those who might be the hardcore supporters,” Vindman said. “But by and large, there’s an opportunity to make the case that this president is not actually advancing any of the interests of the Venezuelan-American and the Cuban-American community.”
Vindman argued that Trump is “painting over the regime with a light coat of paint, nothing fundamentally changes it. I don’t think it’s going to be sufficient for him.”
Vindman is a former National Security Council staffer and Army veteran who gained a national profile after testifying against Trump ahead his first impeachment in 2019. He joined Florida’s Democratic Senate race in January. He’s vying to replace Republican U.S. Sen. Ashley Moody, who was appointed by Gov. Ron DeSantis after Trump tapped Marco Rubio for Secretary of State.
As one the best-funded statewide Democratic candidates in the midterms in Florida, his posture could set the tone for how Democrats respond to Trump’s deals with Cuba.
The U.S. has instituted punishing sanctions and an oil blockade against Cuba, which have pushed the country toward a humanitarian crisis. Trump said in Doral Saturday that Cuba is in its “last moments of life” and said he has been personally involved in negotiations with the country on a deal to ease sanction in exchange for changes on the island.
While he admits that political change in Cuba could boost support for Trump and Republicans among voters whose roots extend to the communist country, Vindman insists that benefit would only be temporary.
He pointed to Venezuela as an example.
“He had a brief moment of euphoria for those expats and exiles from Venezuela that thought that Venezuela was heading in a different direction and very, very quickly realized it was more of the same,” Vindman said.
According to Vindman, the administration’s partnership with Nicolás Maduro’s vice president, Delcy Rodríguez, and the lack of clear plans for democratic elections in Venezuela will backfire on Trump.
“What has changed fundamentally? Except for the one person at the top, otherwise, the regime is unchanged,” he said of Venezuela.
Vindman said he actually agrees with Trump on one thing: focusing on U.S. relationships with countries in the Western hemisphere. But he said the alignment stops there, arguing that the way Trump is doing it is transactional and “short-sighted.”
But as Vindman faces down a difficult path to victory for any Democratic in Florida, he’ll have to convince South Florida’s Cuban and Venezuelan voters that Trump’s plan is failing.
To do that, he said he’s campaigning on a bigger-picture vision for Cuba.
“There are folks that are more transactional and are just looking to get back and reconnect,” Vindman acknowledged. “But I think the long thread for the Cuban-American community, the long thread going back 60 years — even all the way back to ’52, where democracy was toppled by [Fulgencio] Batista — was to ultimately achieve the goal of democracy and prosperity for the island. I think the long thread goes against that very transactional vein.”
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