Rick Scott says all options must remain on table in latest Cuba-focused ad

Image via AP.

Sen. Rick Scott launched a new digital ad promising eternal support for pro-democracy protesters in Cuba.

Wearing his signature Navy cap and a button-up shirt with no jacket, the Senator in Spanish and English promised to back the drive for “Libertad.” Scott’s words are interspliced with images of protesters in the streets of Havana and other Cuban cities since July 11.

“I will not rest until that day of freedom arrives for Cuba,” Scott says.

The video appears on the YouTube page for Scott’s Senate campaign, and a disclosure makes clear it was paid for by Scott’s official campaign account. It will begin broadcasting Monday in the Miami, Orlando, Tampa, Fort Myers and Washington media markets.

The spot specifically speaks at points to Cuban-Americans and allies living in Florida. It went live the same day Scott expects to join protesters in Lafayette Square.

The Senator, first elected to the Senate in 2018, isn’t scheduled to appear on the ballot again until 2024. But Florida’s other Senator, Republican Marco Rubio, will seek reelection next year, and Scott chairs the Republican Senatorial Campaign Committee, which supports the reelection of GOP incumbents to Senate seats around the country next fall.

President Joe Biden last week announced sanctions against members of Cuba’s communist government and committed to deploy technology to provide internet access for the Cuban people.

Scott, in his new ad, said the U.S. should be prepared to engage further. He also said the rest of the world has done too little to aid the people living under the communist regime, which makes it all the more important for the U.S. to do more.

“This moment requires the United States to lead, so all options must remain on the table if the Cuban people are to rid themselves once and for all of this hellish, 62-year communist nightmare,” he said.

Scott switches to Spanish in an appeal for liberty, saying in the island nation’s predominant language, “The freedom of Cuba is not negotiable and requires action now.”