The United States is a two-party system consisting of the Republican and the Democratic Parties.  There is also the Independent Party, which is a far right political party that votes on issues rather than political partisanship. Belonging to a party is based on one’s own political ideology.  But why are most Cubans such hardcore Republicans?

Cuban-Americans have a staunch devotion to the Republican Party.  Their anti-Castro sentiments mixed with some American political events that had to do with Cuba have made the Democratic Party a scapegoat, not a party of choice. 

For this reason, they incorrectly draw similarities between the Democratic Party and socialism-communism they left behind.  It is an illusion that gave birth to their Republican conservatism and their antagonism for the Democratic Party.

It all started when President John F. Kennedy orchestrated the failed Bay of Pigs invasion of Cuba in 1963.  The Cuban exiles in the United States viewed that unsuccessful invasion as an act of treason of the American left, meaning the Democratic Party. 

In 2000 under President Bill Clinton, there was also the drama of Elian Gonzalez, an immigrant Cuban boy, who was sent back to his father in Cuba. 

Also, the easing of the Cuban sanctions by President Barrack Obama, another U.S Democratic president, and his visit to Cuba in 2016 evaporated the last drop of sentiments Cubans had left for the Democrats.

But one young Cuban-American who happens to be Democrat confided: “the first wave of rich Cuban immigrants chose the Republican Party because they believe that it is the party of the rich and not because Democrats are bad.  From then on, Cubans of all social statuses blindly jumped onto the Republican bandwagon.”

So that practice turns into a voting pattern that has taken momentum and that has grown out of proportion today.  Efforts to convince Cubans otherwise would be as futile as trying to convert the devil to Christianity.

Because of all those political events, a great majority of Cubans have become sworn Republicans.  In their crazy discussions of politics, which they define at their convenience, they act like indoctrinated cult members. Most of them are quite inept about American politics, but Republicans to the core. 

Yet they demonize Democrats with a vengeance and to the point of rendering the Democratic Party extinct and the Republican Party the sole viable political choice. 

One must understand that Democrats and Republicans both have their flaws.  Neither political party is perfect.  After all, it’s politics.  When we have two evils to choose from, the best choice is the lesser of the two. But in 2016 U.S. presidential election, with two unorthodox candidates, each one in his own way, the choice should have been neither.

According to a survey, Cubans are twice more likely to vote republican than non-Cuban Latinos.  In 2016, Donald Trump reaped 54% of the Cuban votes compared to Hilary Clinton 41%.  This percentage of Cubans voting Democrat is due to a shift in young Cuban-American voters who have renounced the tradition of their parents who always vote republican. 

Cubans are faithful republicans. They defend and embellish Trump and the Republican Party to the teeth. But little do they know that when the interests of America are at stake, both political parties become the wings of the same bird despite their political divergence.

“Democrats believe in equal opportunity despite race, religion, gender, or sexual orientation. They also believe in equal educational opportunity for all.  On the other hand, Republicans believe in a smaller federal government, which places fewer regulations on the people.”

Cubans bet on the Republican Party to salvage the island from the claws of communism.  They believe that Trump is the man who is best fit to do the job.  Some Cubans being surveyed at Miami International Airport believe that Trump will topple one after the other the leftist governments of Venezuela, Nicaragua and Cuba.  Cubanitos locos!  Hah! Hah! Hah!  Fidel Castro must be laughing in his grave.

When asked why are Cubans such hardcore Republicans? Most of them reply that they are Republicans because, unlike Democrats, Republicans are tough on Cuba.  They also claim that Democrats practice the same socialist system they left in Cuba.  Whoops! How absurd!  Dios mio!  They simply make one U.S. political party the scapegoat for a cuban revolution gone wrong. 

In fact, Cubans are very patriotic, and Cuba is the pivotal point of their political affiliation and their voting decision.  They are very influential in the American politics.

Well, let us all fulfill our civic duty willingly so that our voice is heard and that our votes count.  Before all, let’s rethink, assess, act, and choose the party that inspires our own political ideology for a better America, but not one that has been passed on to us simply to go along with propaganda or a political tradition that differs from reality.

“Ignorance is the root of many ills. Knowledge must be the fundamental ally of nations that aspire, despite all their tragedies and problems, to become truly emancipated, to build a better world.” Fidel Castro, My life: A Spoken Autobiography.