Remarks- Senator. Ted Cruz

I have inaugurated this Parliamentary Forum on Intelligence and Security, with your intervention, Senator Cruz. Where our relationships extend nearly 200 years. We have deep economic and security connections. That is why it is so alarming that a leftist movement has taken control in the region. And 10 governments are now controlled by socialists. All these governments, with only one exception, are also overtly and ideologically anti-American. They are committed to overthrowing American security. Unfortunately, the left-wing movement is the result of the catastrophic foreign policies of the Biden administration. Since President Biden has been in office, we have seen the forces of evil in Iran, Afghanistan, Russia, China, All have gained strength, while our friends and allies in Israel, Ukraine, Hong Kong, and Taiwan feel abandoned and alone. This pattern has been replicated too often here in the Western hemisphere. In Cuba, the Biden administration failed to bring about and strongly support the Cuban people. Marching heroically for freedom, embracing the American banners. The officials of the administration have not been able to unequivocally support the protesters. And yet they have not been able to convict the brutal wolves that the communist regime has sent to attack and silence Cuban citizens seeking freedom. Díaz-Canel receives assistance from the Biden administration while brutally oppressing Cubans, demanding basic human rights and the rule of law. In Mexico, President López Obrador has overcome an acute erosion of the freedom of Mexican citizens, their institutions, and their media. However, the Biden administration would not even acknowledge that the objectives of American companies under López Obrador and the nationalization of energy in Mexico are bad things. In Colombia, the Biden administration went out of its way to undermine and alienate the pro-American government of President Duque. President Biden criticized Duque over a call during the first five months of his administration, providing mobility to Duque's domestic enemies. Biden also removed the FARC, the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, from the list of terrorist organizations. He dismantled the terrorist sanctions against members of the FARC, even though the FARC continue to pose a serious threat to Colombian security and American interests in the region. These policies achieved their objective. In Argentina, Fernández de Kirchner remains in office after being convicted of siphoning funds from the treasury during her presidency and covering up Iranian terrorism. In Brazil, Lula da Silva has shifted the country away from the United States and instead oriented it toward our global rivals. In Nicaragua, the Ortega-Crime family continues to control the country. My home, the state of Texas, has been and continues to be directly affected by the chaos that results. We have witnessed an increase in civil risk and the dismantling of the rule of law across our southern border. The border crisis was directly caused by the policies and political decisions of President Biden, and it presents challenges and dangers to national security and the United States. One of these dangers originates from the flow of Chinese fentanyl and other drugs across our southern border. Last year, over 100,000 people died from drug overdoses in the United States. When our borders are opened, this crisis is exacerbated, providing a market for these drugs that enter our country from corrupt drug lords. making billions of dollars in Latin America as a result of Biden's policies. The consequences have been catastrophic and devastating, and they are harmful to families across all U.S. states and throughout Latin America. In the Senate, every day, I am working to do everything I can to promote freedom, both at home and abroad. I want the United States to strengthen its relations with our allies and pursue peace through strength. The relationship between the United States and Latin America is critical to the stabilization of the region and the prosperity of its inhabitants. As you know, my father is from Cuba, and as a child he fought in the Cuban Revolution. He was imprisoned and tortured by Batista's thugs. Then, in 1957, my father fled Cuba and came to the United States, to Texas. My father came to America because he wanted to be free. I wanted to be alone, to pursue an education, a career, a family. I think that's what most people want. That is precisely why we must speak out against the rise of socialism and corruption. What is so deeply damaging families in Latin America, in this world. What you are doing here today is so important. People around the world depend on free nations to promote freedom and security. Thank you for coming together to face these challenges head-on. God bless them.