Gov. Ron DeSantis signed legislation bolstering teaching in public schools on the perils of communism on Wednesday while visiting a museum honoring veterans of the abortive Bay of Pigs invasion of Cuba.
Despite the fall of communism in the former Soviet Union and Warsaw Pact countries, DeSantis stated at a press conference at the Hialeah Gardens Museum, honoring those who survived the CIA-backed invasion on April 17, 1961, that communism still poses a threat in communist China and Latin America, particularly Cuba.
“1,113 fighters were captured by Castro’s forces and were kept prisoners for 20 months,” according to the museum’s website.
In this hemisphere, there are now more leftist governments than there were during the height of the Cold War. And among those governments, I count Canada,” DeSantis remarked.
All of this comes from Havana. The epicenter of communist governance in the Americas is Havana. That regime is the original cancer in the Western Hemisphere, and Joe Biden lost a golden chance. Instead, I believe that our approach should be to support those who desire a free Cuba and an end to that tyranny.
The governor mentioned his proposal to give Cubans internet access through cellphones mounted on balloons in 2021. But beyond the immediate term, that might not have been possible, according to an Associated Press analysis. Access was banned by the Cuban government in the midst of widespread public outrage.
The state has designated November 7, the anniversary of the Bolshevik Revolution, as “Victims of Communism Day” since 2022. As part of this recognition, K–12 classrooms are mandated to teach students about the dangers of communism for 45 minutes.
Age-appropriate education on communism, including its history in the US, is mandated by a new law (SB 1264). This includes instruction on “domestic communist movements, including their histories and tactics” as well as “atrocities committed in foreign countries under the guidance of communism,” which includes Latin America and Cuba.
“Any individual who was a victim of communism or any state or nationally recognized organization dedicated to the victims of communism” may provide input to the Florida Department of Education when creating the curricula, according to the bill.
“To preserve the ideals of a free society and promote democracy in the Americas,” the bill establishes The Institute for Freedom in the Americas at Miami-Dade College. The Cuban Refugee Assistance Center, which was housed in the Freedom Tower after the Cuban Revolution, will be the new home of the institute.
In order to “study the effect of government and free market economies on individual freedom, educational freedom, and human prosperity,” it also establishes the Adam Smith Center for Economic Freedom at Florida International University.
According to DeSantis, the two institutions are intended to work together in planning workshops, courses, and other educational initiatives.
Lastly, the bill establishes the foundation for a new museum that will chronicle the history of communism.
According to DeSantis, “apologists for communism in our society” are the reason for the attempt.
He said, in what was probably exaggerated, “There’s more communists on the Harvard faculty than all of Eastern Europe, because they lived through it and so no one’s a communist anymore there.”
Manny Diaz Jr., the Commissioner of Education, proposed that the curriculum would immunize pupils against Marxist brainwashing.
According to Diaz, “so, our students from elementary school through middle school through high school will have a foundation and an understanding, so they will not be fooled by anyone telling the story otherwise when they get to the higher ed level.”
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