Marco Rubio, Republican senator from Florida, lashed out on Wednesday against “democratic socialism,” a term he says is fashionable in American politics, very present in today’s Democratic Presidential candidates.
“Why has it become so popular among some?” Asks Rubio, the son of Cuban parents who arrived in Florida shortly before Fidel Castro took power. The term “democratic socialism” allows the left to ignore “the incredibly destructive history of socialism,” the politician explained.
“The promises are very familiar: a universal basic income, a free university, medical care administered by the government, guaranteed government work for all,” he added, in a clear reference to the speech by Democratic candidate Bernie Sanders.
But Senator Rubio sees in “democratic socialism” only one problem: that it is incompatible with American values.
“Democratic socialism has not worked anywhere in the world and, in fact, there are people living in the United States today who came here because democratic socialism destroyed the economies of their countries,” the senator added.
For Rubio “there is no doubt” that the public policies of the Administration must change to “better reflect” values such as decent work, family and prosperity, but “democratic socialism will never be the answer”.
Rubio’s statements come at a time when the motors of the presidential campaign for 2020 are heating up. President Donald Trump, during a speech to the Venezuelan, Nicaraguan and Cuban community in South Florida last February, said that ” The United States will never be a socialist country. “
“We know what freedom can do in Venezuela because we have seen that future here in Doral; We know what freedom in Cuba can do because we have seen it here in Miami; We know what freedom can do in Nicaragua because we have seen it in Sweetwater. And one day, with the help of God, we will see what people will do in Caracas, Managua and Havana, “the president said at that time.
Critics of Trump argue that the president has fueled the fear of socialism to ensure the vote of the communities of exiles in the United States and that socialism can not be compared to communism, a system established by Lenin and Stalin in the Soviet Union and copied by numerous regimes in the world.
According to historians, Communism has caused the death of nearly 100 million people and impoverished dozens of nations. According to rigorous investigations that system killed more than 20 million people in the Soviet Union and at least 65 million in the time of Mao Zedong in China.
