DeSantis signs ‘Victims of Communism Day’ into law
Public schools to observe the day Nov. 7
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis signed bills into law Monday to call attention to the injustices of communism, declaring Nov. 7 “Victims of Communism Day” and having students each November take classes about the consequences of such oppression.
Several streets also will be renamed in honor of those who fought communism, including in memory of two Cuban activists in South Florida.
“Freedom is not free,” DeSantis said during a news conference at Miami’s Freedom Tower. “You have to fight for your rights, and there are a lot people out there who would love nothing more than to put you under some form of oppression.”
The state will commemorate “Victims of Communism Day” on Nov. 7 each year, when high school students will get 45 minutes of instruction to mark the day. Starting in the 20232024 school year, students will learn “how victims suffered under these regimes through suppression of speech, poverty, starvation, migration and systemic lethal violence.”
During Monday’s news conference DeSantis invoked the names of Russia’s late Vladimir Lenin and Joseph Stalin; Mao Zedong, the late founder of the People’s Republic of China; Fidel Castro, the late communist leader of Cuba, and Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro.
When college students fly Soviet-era flags or wear guerilla leader Che Guevara T-shirts, “that to me speaks of a tremendous ignorance,” he said.
He said when children learn about the people suffering in Cuba, Venezuela and Nicaragua, when people look for a “moral compass,” they’ll find it in Florida.
The bill was sponsored by Sen. Manny Diaz, who was appointed the next commissioner of education, the first Hispanic in Florida to serve in that role.
The Freedom Tower was originally built as a newspaper’s headquarters and became the center for the federal Cuban Refugee Assistance Program in 1962, created to aid the thousands of Cubans fleeing the 1959 communist revolution.
DeSantis also signed a bill for $25 million to pay for needed structural repairs and security system for the building, which is considered the “Ellis Island” for Cuban-Americans.
Over the past year DeSantis has received both support and opposition over what his administration wants children to learn in schools. The state had recently rejected some children’s math textbooks, saying that some contained “critical race theory” or other objectionable material meant to “indoctrinate” students. But some of the rejected books were approved in the following weeks.
And Florida’s Parental Rights in Education law, derided by critics as “don’t say gay,” prohibits classroom instruction on sexual orientation and gender identity in kindergarten through third grade, and also may limit instruction for older students.
Renaming roads in South Florida
On Monday DeSantis signed a bill that would allow for the renaming of 26 roads throughout the state.
In Miami-Dade, that includes Southwest 23rd Avenue and Southwest Eighth Street, which will now be called “Arturo Diaz Artiles Plaza.” He opened the Santa Clara Pharmacy and kept it running for decades in Miami. It became a gathering spot for Cuban exiles. Artiles died in 2013. In 2021 the Miami-Dade County Commission petitioned the state to rename the intersection after Artiles, who was a founding member of the Latin Chamber of Commerce.
A portion of Le Jeune Road in Miami-Dade now will be called “Oswaldo Payá Way.”
Paya was the the founder of the Cuba’s Christian Liberation Movement, which called for nonviolent civil disobedience against the rule of the Cuban Communist Party and advocated for civil liberties and freedom for political prisoners.
Paya, who received multiple threats from the Cuban government, died in a car accident in Cuba in 2012 after being rammed from behind, a death that his supporters believe involved foul play.
In January the MiamiDade County Commission also urged the renaming of that area for Paya.
Criticizing the Biden administration
While speaking to Cubans in Miami about the evils of communism, Florida’s governor likened the Biden Administration to a “regime,” blasting plans to create a board to combat misinformation.
Plans for a Disinformation Governance Board were recently announced to be created within the Department of Homeland Security as a way to “standardize” the department’s efforts to respond to disinformation that could be connected with violent threats to the U.S.
DeSantis said the plans for a “Disinformation Bureau” were “wrong” and “needs to go the way of the buffalo.”
“What they are doing to try to stifle dissent, to try to elevate a chosen political narrative that’s endorsed by the regime and to try to marginalize dissenters is not what a free society is all about,” he said.
Officials for the new board said it will monitor and prepare for Russian disinformation threats as this year’s midterm elections near. The board will be led by disinformation expert Nina Jankowicz, who has researched Russian misinformation tactics and online harassment.
The creation of the board “is a continuation of work that was done under the prior administration, under the Trump Administration,” said White House spokeswoman Jen Psaki earlier this month.
Praising Musk’s Twitter acquisition
Florida’s governor also praised the pending takeover of Twitter, saying he was “thankful Elon Musk is taking over Twitter because he’s going to open it up.”
“I think it’s a good thing they lose control of the narrative,” DeSantis said of social media companies.
Musk has repeatedly said he wants to “transform” the platform by promoting more free speech and giving users more control over what they see on it.
One of the most prominent former Twitter users tossed off the site is former President Donald Trump, whose account was suspended following the storming of the U.S. Capitol.
Lisa J. Huriash can be reached at lhuriash @sunsentinel.com or 954-572-2008 or Twitter @LisaHuriash