US foreign policy regarding Cuba and Venezuela has been strongly influenced by Menendez being the Senate’s foreign policy chairman. With control of the Senate being so evenly divided, President Biden wasn’t in a great position to undo much of TFG’s politicking to placate the emigres in Florida and elsewhere.

With Menendez out and the overtly-hostile emigres having tied themselves to the Republican Party, this could change and a breeze of sanity could blow down from DC to the Caribbean.

The Pearl of the Antilles is a common goal for capitalist looting.

I agree with your comment regarding Menendez.

It has always baffled me as to why the Dems campaign in S Fla espousing the very same rhetoric and policies regarding Cuba and Venezuela as the intransigent GOPers .

Push Republican policies and people will vote Republican every time.

Democrats used to assume that Florida was a swing state and that Cuban emigres could be persuaded to vote Democratic. Although some emigres did vote Democratic, most of that outreach is wasted effort: those emigres are as solidly Republican as Iowa Evangelicals or Deep-South white supremacists. And in spite of Democratic outreach, Florida has changed from purple to ruby-red Republican. Democratic politicians can’t seem to win statewide Florida races and campaigning in Florida is a lost cause for Democrats and sucks up resources that can be better spent elsewhere.

In my opinion Democrats owe the Cuban emigres in Florida zilch. Catering to them is a waste of time: the only “thanks” any Democrat is likely to get from these people is money and votes for their Republican opponents. US policy would be better oriented to the interests of the US and its citizenry, and not to the clamor of those folks still trying to punish the Democratic Party for the Bay of Pigs debacle.

That's one of my gripes.

The dem outreach in S Fla has been to the same people and with the same planks as their CONservative opponents.

When they offer up republican platforms regarding their most prominent issue, people will just vote for the republicans.