Official Statement by Miami-Dade County Tax Collector Dariel Fernandez on the Arrest of Former Cuban Lieutenant Colonel Jorge Luis Vega García.

The arrest of former Cuban Lieutenant Colonel Jorge Luis Vega García in the United States is a necessary and just action. Vega García has been identified by victims as one of the main enforcers of the Castro regime’s repressive prison system. Individuals like him, who were part of the machinery of oppression in Cuba, should never be allowed to enter this great nation under any pretense, much less through humanitarian parole.

As Miami-Dade County Tax Collector, I take seriously my responsibility to defend freedom, justice, and the values that define our community. There is no place in America for those who violated human rights and served a dictatorship. I thank the federal authorities for doing their job and the brave Cuban exile community for continuing to expose these criminals. The United States must always stand on the side of freedom and justice.

This case confirms what we have denounced for years: the accomplices of the murderous communist and socialist dictatorship in Cuba must not find refuge in the land of freedom. I thank the federal authorities for responding to the voices of the brave exiles who raised the alarm. Justice always finds its way.

Let this also be a direct message to every business or individual in the United States especially in Miami-Dade County who collaborates or does business with the assassins of the communist and socialist dictatorship in Cuba, or supports other oppressive regimes like those of Maduro in Venezuela or Ortega in Nicaragua: you are on the wrong side of history. Our community does not forget, and we will not remain silent. To stand with the oppressed is to stand firmly against those who profit from their suffering and uphold the interests of tyranny.

Let this serve as a warning to every enforcer of the Cuban regime who thinks they can hide among us: your crimes will not be forgotten, and there will be accountability. The Cuban people deserve truth, justice, and the assurance that those who persecuted them will never find safe harbor in the land of liberty.

God bless the United States of America.

Dariel Fernandez
Miami-Dade County Tax Collector