Say cheese, Comrade!
New York City mayoral front-runner Zohran Mamdani is seen beaming with members of communist Cuba’s delegation to the United Nations during a trip to Albany last year.
Mamdani, a Queens state assemblyman and now the leading mayoral hopeful, is pictured with other Democratic Socialist lawmakers who want to aid the communist dictatorship by advocating to end the US blockade against Cuba.
The effort is par for the course among lefty politicians. Former Mayor Bill de Blasio honeymooned in Cuba and visited communist Nicaragua.
Mamdani’s rival, independent candidate and ex-Gov. Andrew Cuomo is no slouch when it comes to schmoozing with the communist-led nation, either. He headed a trade mission to Cuba in 2015 after then-President Barack Obama eased US sanctions against it, though the embargo remained in effect.
US Rep. Nicole Malliotakis, whose mother fled oppressive Cuba, was not amused by Mamdani joining arms with communists.
“It’s no surprise Zohran was thrilled to welcome a delegation representing Cuba’s communist regime to New York since he’s made Karl Marx’s communist playbook part of his campaign,” claimed Malliotakis, a Republican who represents Staten Island and southern Brooklyn.
“From abolishing private property ownership to seizing the means of production to government-run supermarkets, Zohran’s proposed policies have destroyed lives, businesses and nations — just ask my mother whose family’s small business and home were confiscated by the regime” in Cuba, the GOPer said.
Mamdani recently opined on his views of Cuba during and after an interview with Latino journalists Jorge Ramos and his daughter, Paola Ramos.
“I want to be clear on where I stand. I believe both Nicolas Maduro and Miguel Diaz-Canel are dictators,” he said, referring to the Venezuelan and Cuban leaders, respectively.
“Their administrations have stifled free and fair elections, jailed political opponents and suppressed the free and fair press.”
But then he blamed the US government blockade of Cuba and hostility toward Venezuela as counterproductive and inhumane.
“Our federal government’s long history of punitive policies toward both countries, including extrajudicial killings of Venezuelans and the continuation of a decades-long blockade of Cuba, have only worsened these conditions,” Mamdani said.
“Democratic socialism is about dignity, justice and accountability. And above all, it’s about building a democracy that works for working people, not one that preys on them.”
The picture with the Cuba delegation was proudly posted by Democratic Brooklyn state Sen. Jabari Brisport.
“It’s hard to overstate how much damage the US blockade against Cuba has done,” Brisport wrote when posting the photo on social media June 3, 2024. “It’s time we treat our neighbors with basic decency & end these unjustified sanctions.
“So honored the Cuban Delegation to the United Nations was able to meet with us today.”
Brisport noted that members of the Cuban delegation to the UN are not typically allowed to leave a 25-mile radius from the UN building and that they had to get “special permission to come to our state Capitol.”
About 40 members of the Democratic Socialists of America recently returned from a trip to Cuba, where they displayed solidarity with their comrades and opposed the US blockade and other sanctions against the communist state.
“Our delegation met Cuban workers, doctors, teachers and artists who keep the country running despite the growing hardships imposed by the U.S. blockade,” the DSA said in a statement.
“The resilience of the Cuban people inspires us, but we also saw firsthand the hardships they face. From blackouts to shortages of basic goods, the U.S. blockade grips daily life, and things are worsening as sanctions tighten and Trump beats the drums of war in the region.
“We return more determined than ever to end the cruel U.S. blockade and stand with the Cuban people as they fight to build a brighter future for their country.”
