{"id":186610,"date":"2021-03-02T10:45:13","date_gmt":"2021-03-02T15:45:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=186610"},"modified":"2021-03-02T10:45:20","modified_gmt":"2021-03-02T15:45:20","slug":"biden-hhs-pick-xavier-becerra-rejected-request-to-bring-humanitarian-aid-on-1996-cuba-trip-to-meet-castro-report","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/biden-hhs-pick-xavier-becerra-rejected-request-to-bring-humanitarian-aid-on-1996-cuba-trip-to-meet-castro-report\/","title":{"rendered":"Biden HHS Pick Xavier Becerra Rejected Request To Bring Humanitarian Aid On 1996 Cuba Trip To Meet Castro: Report"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"&quot;\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">38<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fbiden-hhs-pick-xavier-becerra-rejected-request-to-bring-humanitarian-aid-on-1996-cuba-trip-to-meet-castro-report%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=186610&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><div><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/Xavier-Becerra-1200x800-1.jpg\" class=\"ff-og-image-inserted\" \/><\/div>\n<p>President Joe Biden\u2019s nominee to head the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), Xavier Becerra, reportedly rejected a request from a human rights organization to bring humanitarian aid to Cuba during a trip that he took to the communist nation in 1996 to meet with dictator Fidel Castro.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cBefore Xavier Becerra\u2019s trip as part of a \u2018fact-finding\u2019 congressional delegation to Cuba, the former California lawmaker was asked by Freedom House to bring an aid package including medicine and coloring books for the Cuban people,\u201d The Washington Free Beacon\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/freebeacon.com\/biden-administration\/becerra-declined-to-bring-humanitarian-aid-on-1996-cuba-trip\/\">reported<\/a>. \u201cBecerra refused, according to a December 1996 column by journalist and author Robert Novak.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The column <a href=\"https:\/\/www.newspapers.com\/clip\/72414121\/marshfield-news-herald\/\">stated<\/a>:<\/p>\n<blockquote>\n<p><em>Two California members of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus declined a request from Freedom House, the respected organization supporting democracy worldwide, to carry medicine and published material on their recent \u2018fact-finding\u2019 visit to communist Cuba.<\/em><\/p>\n<p><em>The visit was made by by Reps. Xavier Becerra and Esteban Edward Torres. The materials they were asked to distribute contained no anti-Castro propaganda but publications as inoffensive as a Christian coloring book for children.<\/em><\/p>\n<p><em>The congressmen themselves did not respond to repeated requests by this column to explain their decision, and their aides said they had no answer. Both Becerra and Torres oppose the long-standing embargo against Fidel Castro\u2019s regime and are regarded as hostile to the to the Cuban-American community.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>The trip came as Becerra was running to lead the Congressional Hispanic Caucus, a race that he eventually won. After he won, all Republican members who paid dues to the caucus <a href=\"https:\/\/www.newspapers.com\/image\/?clipping_id=72415189&#038;fcfToken=eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJmcmVlLXZpZXctaWQiOjQzMTgwMzIyNiwiaWF0IjoxNjE0Njk2MTQ1LCJleHAiOjE2MTQ3ODI1NDV9.tIKrnhJuZpcmdrOHyyMnRns1tSg1XxxHAdlX_F0rRAs\">quit<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe issue was not going to Cuba, the issue was going and not saying anything,\u201d Rep. Lincoln Diaz-Balart (R-FL) said at the time. \u201cHe flouted his disregard for our deeply held views on what for us is an ultimately sensitive issue.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The Miami Herald reported in January 1997 that Becerra\u2019s trip to Cuba was organized by Alicia Torres, whom the Free Beacon described as a \u201cpro-Castro activist.\u201d The Miami Herald reported that Becerra met with Castro for four hours one night and had dinner with the murderous dictator.<\/p>\n<p>The Free Beacon added:<\/p>\n<blockquote>\n<p><em>Even Becerra\u2019s fellow Democrats\u00a0questioned\u00a0his motivations at the time of his trip. Then-congressman Bob Menendez, a New Jersey Democrat, said that Becerra \u201cdidn\u2019t give me an indication that he was going there to challenge the dictatorship,\u201d adding that \u201cit seemed to me his focus was more on finding ways to justify his view that U.S. policy is wrong.\u201d Bringing American supplies to Cuba would have undercut Becerra\u2019s pro-Castro perspective.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>Becerra has faced intense questioning during his confirmation hearings for his actions as California\u2019s attorney general, which he made <a href=\"https:\/\/www.dailywire.com\/news\/becerra-tells-congress-he-never-sued-any-nuns-despite-californias-little-sisters-of-the-poor-lawsuit\">false claims<\/a> about during the hearings, and has been grilled by local media publications.<\/p>\n<p>The San Diego Union-Tribune\u2019s Editorial Board <a href=\"https:\/\/www.sandiegouniontribune.com\/opinion\/story\/2020-12-09\/editorial-why-xavier-becerra-is-a-very-dubious-choice-to-run-hhs\">said<\/a> it was \u201cdifficult to grasp\u201d why Biden tapped Becerra to lead HHS during a pandemic considering the fact that Becerra has \u201cno public health experience\u201d and that Becerra has been \u201ca sharp disappointment\u201d as California\u2019s attorney general. The editorial board added that Becerra also engaged in the \u201cugly tradition of state attorneys general writing grossly misleading ballot language on propositions put before voters.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><em><span>The Daily Wire is one of America\u2019s fastest-growing conservative media companies and counter-cultural outlets for news, opinion, and entertainment. Get inside access to The Daily Wire by becoming a<\/span><\/em> <a href=\"https:\/\/www.dailywire.com\/subscribe\"><em><span>member<\/span><\/em><\/a><em><span>.\u00a0<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>President Joe Biden\u2019s nominee to head the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), Xavier Becerra, reportedly rejected a request from a human rights organization to bring humanitarian aid to &#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2274556,"comment_status":"close","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/Xavier-Becerra-1200x800-1.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"Biden HHS Pick Xavier Becerra Rejected Request To Bring Humanitarian Aid On 1996 Cuba Trip To Meet Castro: Report","footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-186610","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/Xavier-Becerra-1200x800-1.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"Biden HHS Pick Xavier Becerra Rejected Request To Bring Humanitarian Aid On 1996 Cuba Trip To Meet Castro: Report","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/186610","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=186610"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/186610\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2274556"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=186610"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=186610"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=186610"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}