CAPE CORAL, FLA — If you remember FOX 4's coverage of a Cuban protest in Naples last month, then you remember this promise U.S. Representative, Byron Donalds, made live on our air.
It came after calls from the crowd for U.S. intervention on the island nation.
"Is that something you'll be doing in Congress? Pushing for some kind of intervention?" asked FOX 4 Reporter Rochelle Alleyne.
"Absolutely. At a minimum what we should do is continue the sanctions on that country," said Donalds.
And a month later, FOX 4 is following up.
Congressman Donalds says he's working on a bill, right now, to beef up current U.S. sanctions against Cuba.
Trading with Cuba has been banned in the U.S. for years and recently the government has banned most Americans from providing money or goods to the country's national police force and its leaders.
But Donalds says the U.S. needs to tack on "secondary sanctions" to that plan.
"It's not just enough for there to be direct sanctions but there also has to be sanctions from other countries," he said.
He tells FOX 4 that he also plans to use economic pressure to convince those other countries to join in.
"Everybody wants to be involved in our financial markets around the world so if you want to play in our financial markets, this is the price for playing in those markets," he said.
But there are still those who would like to see the American government provide military intervention. So we asked him about that too.
"First and foremost using our military is a last resort. I think everybody understands that and knows that. There are other steps that we can take against the Cuban regime," he said.
Donalds adds that his bill that would call on the U.S. to take those steps, should be ready to submit within the next month.
