Democrats to Governor: Divest Florida from Russian assets now

Charlie Crist takes his cue from Ron DeSantis on School Board races.

Citing both Russia’s war in Ukraine and Russia’s support for regimes in Venezuela and Cuba, Florida’s Democratic members of Congress repeated calls Friday for Gov. Ron DeSantis to pull Florida’s investments out of Russian assets.

“Now is the time for Florida to take decisive action and respond to Russia’s unprovoked attacks on the people of Ukraine,” the letter reads. The letter was led by St. Petersburg Rep. Charlie Crist, who’s running against DeSantis in the 2024 gubernatorial election, and Weston Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz.

A month into the war, DeSantis has not responded to prior pleas, including from Crist, Agriculture Commissioner and fellow gubernatorial candidate Nikki Fried, and other Democrats to divest Florida from Russian assets. The Governor has kept the Russian war on Ukraine at arms length. His staff has argued that there is little reason for a Florida Governor to get involved in foreign affairs that do not affect Florida.

Some Republicans, including Sens. Marco Rubio and Rick Scott, have also called for strong responses to Russia. That includes Scott’s own call for divestiture.

The Democrats’ latest letter characterizes DeSantis’ ongoing inaction as “refusing to divest from Russian-owned assets and companies.”

DeSantis’ office said the question is being reviewed by the State Board of Administration (SBA).

“All we have said on this specific issue (divestment) is that the SBA is reviewing the matter. This is still the case,” the Governor’s Office said Friday.

The letter — also signed by Reps. Kathy Castor, Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick, Val Demings, Ted Deutch, Lois Frankel, Al Lawson, Stephanie Murphy, Darren Soto and Frederica Wilson — comes as Ukrainian officials report Friday that a Russian bombing on a theater killed 300 civilians last week.

“We write today to request that you immediately divest Florida from Russian-owned assets and companies. As the Ukrainian people fight for their freedom against Russia’s heinous, unprovoked invasion, you must prevent our state from providing resources to Russian dictator Vladimir Putin and the Russian armed forces,” the letter pleads.

In February, SBA communications director Dennis MacKee offered a statement that said: “Of our $195 billion in assets, we currently hold approximately $300 million in Russian-domiciled investments.”

The Democrats’ letter noted the $300 million figure, saying the latest disclosure shows the money invested in Russian-owned and Russian headquartered assets and companies by the Florida Retirement System. The investments are in such companies as Rosneft Oil, Sherbank, Norilsk Nickel, Lukoil and Magnit.

“Floridians, our constituents, are patriotic Americans with deep convictions. Floridians stand up for what is right. It is time for our state’s government to do what is right and sever its ties to Russia,” the Democrats’ letter states.

The Democrats also remind of Putin’s ties to the regimes in Venezuela and Cuba, home countries of millions of Floridians.

“Putin is providing a lifeline of support to the nefarious activities of Venezuela’s Nicolás Maduro and Cuba’s Miguel Díaz-Canel,” the letter notes. “By refusing to divest from Russian-owned assets and companies, Florida is propping up these dictators.”