MICHEL MARTIN, HOST:
Let's hear now from a Republican congresswoman who is the daughter of Cuban exiles. Maria Salazar represents Florida's 27th Congressional District in Miami-Dade County, and she's with us now. Good morning, Congresswoman. Thanks for joining us.
MARIA SALAZAR: Good morning. The heart of the Cuban exile community in the United States.
MARTIN: Absolutely. And you heard President Trump say he expects, quote, "to have the honor of taking Cuba." What do you make of that statement?
SALAZAR: Well, I think that making (ph) Cuba and putting it on the list of the Western Hemisphere countries that are free, and they have democracy and liberty and a free-market economy. That's the way I interpret it - take it to the good side. 'Cause right now, Cuba is the mothership of evil in the Western Hemisphere. So we're delighted, not only myself personally but my whole community. You know, I represent hundreds of thousands of Cubans, my parents among them, my grandparents, my family members, you know, everybody that I grew up with, and we are delighted. We cannot believe that after 65 years, we're going to be - actually be liberated from this scorch.
MARTIN: So predictions that the end of this communist regime is near are nothing new. Do you think there's something different about this moment?
SALAZAR: Of course. Everything is different about this moment because if you think about it, President Trump is doing what JFK never did when, in 1961, he imposed an economic embargo around the island because Fidel Castro had taken the island to the communist side. So he is basically imposing that embargo on the island and forcing the regime. Remember, these are morally despicable people who have crushed an entire nation for 60 years with no mercy. And he's just - now that they are - they have not been able to really do anything good for the Cubans. Now he's taking them to the limit.
Because remember, it's not what Trump is doing. It's the fact that the Cuban regime on the economic and on the political side, they have not been able - like Marco Rubio said, they have not been able to provide any type of necessity for the nation. So this is something that they have - these are self-inflicted wounds. They have brought this upon themselves...
MARTIN: But do...
SALAZAR: ...By their lack of ability.
MARTIN: Do you think you understand the president's intentions, though, about exactly what he thinks his policy will be toward Cuba? For example, what if the leadership of the country is removed, as Secretary of State Marco Rubio suggested yesterday, but the regime remains? Which is the case in Venezuela, even though there, there's a credible opposition who, by all accounts, has popular support, but the administration hasn't been supporting them. They've been supporting the - a member of the regime that was already there, just not the president himself. What if that's the case with Cuba?
SALAZAR: I understand.
MARTIN: Yeah.
SALAZAR: I understand exactly what you're saying. And I also believe that the White House is not - or, I mean, the United States is not in the business of colonizing. We are in the business of liberating. And I understand what you're saying about Venezuela, but Marco Rubio said it very clearly from the beginning - that it would stabilize, recover and then transition. I do believe that in Venezuela, María Corina Machado is going to be able to go back and organize free and fair elections and win the election at the end. So she will be the - 'cause she represents the opposition forces.
The same thing is going to happen in Cuba. It's just that in Cuba, you've had 65 years of no democracy. There are no institutions, and the Cubans do not remember what democracy looks like. Besides, my community will never allow anything that has to do or smell like the Castros or the repressive apparatus...
MARTIN: So what...
SALAZAR: ...That was in place - that was put in place by them. So this is a different story.
MARTIN: What does it look like, though? How do you think this proceeds?
SALAZAR: That is a very good question that I don't think anyone really knows the answer to and that we have to - you have different models. You have the Spanish model back to democracy. You have the South African model. So this is an uncharted territory. But what I do know that is not going to happen is that one of the people in the repressive apparatus is going to stay in power for too long. Maybe just as a soft landing, a transition, a few months, but very quickly there needs to be forces that are liberated, that are - forces that represent democracy and elected by the Cuban people. Remember that you have 2 million Cubans outside. So those are the overseas Chinese. Those Cubans are going to go back - an overwhelming majority of them - go back and reconstruct the island. So that's a benefit, economic benefit, that Cuba has.
MARTIN: Do you think that - I'm still trying to understand what this looks like. Do you envision that there will be - what? - a ground force? Do you envision that - by American military who will forcibly remove these leaders? Do you envision that they will be somehow - there will be some sort of negotiated exit of these members of the regime? What - I'm still trying to understand what it looks like.
SALAZAR: And I think that what you're saying is very legitimate. I would say the latter one, that there will be negotiations for the Castros to leave. And we need to have Nuremberg trials. We need to have the - 'cause there is no peace without justice. And you remember the firing squad, and you know about Villa Marista. Those are torturing moments. And you know all the different violation of human rights that the Cubans have endured at the hands of the Castros, and those Cubans are on the island. So there - it's going to be fascinating. But I agree with you. We do not know what it looks like, but that's what I'm studying (ph). So I promise I'll come back to you as to give you different scenarios of what the new beginning looks like.
MARTIN: I appreciate that. Before we let you go, you know, in your previous life, you were a journalist. And you interviewed a number of important people in the regime...
SALAZAR: Yeah (laughter).
MARTIN: ...And certainly a lot of people who, you know, are members of the diaspora. Are there individuals that you can identify who you think would be part of the reconstruction of Cuba in this moment, who would have the support of the Cuban people?
SALAZAR: I also interviewed Fidel Castro. I was one of the few ones who was able to interview him. And that's what I know - that he was the devil, and he created this horrible scenario for the Cubans that the Cubans do not want to continue living. But there are many. You have some of the leaders outside of the island - Rosa Maria Paya. You have Rosa Maria Paya. Her dad gives the ultimate sacrifice. He was killed by the regime because he was trying to put together the Varela Project, which is that let's just use the Cuban Constitution and create human rights. She's one of them. I would say that she is definitely a force of - within the opposition forces that could...
MARTIN: OK.
SALAZAR: ...Lead the way. There are a few, but like I said, you have the...
MARTIN: OK.
SALAZAR: ...Overseas Cubans, which are going to be a dominating factor.
MARTIN: OK. Come back and see us as this story unfolds. That's Republican Congressman Maria Salazar of Florida. Congresswoman, we thank you so much.
SALAZAR: Thank you.
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