Cuban-born businessman Maximo Alvarez says he hears echoes of Fidel Castro’s “empty promises” in Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden’s platform.
Alvarez warned against embracing socialist policies during a speech at the Republican National Convention on Monday night.
Alvarez began his address by sharing how his family fled from Cuba to the United States.
He took aim at Biden and claimed he is “mostly concerned about power.”
“I’m speaking to you today because I have seen people like this before. I have seen movements like this before. I’ve seen ideas like this before. And I am here to tell you, we cannot let them take over our country,” Alvarez said.
He continued, “I heard the promises of Fidel Castro, and I can never forget all those who grew up around me, who looked like me, who suffered and starved and died because they believed those empty promises. They swallowed the communist poison pill.”
Watch Alvarez’s remarks below:
"I hear echoes of a former life I never wanted to hear again. I see shadows I thought I had outrun."
— Bloomberg (@business) August 25, 2020
Watch the full speech of Cuban-born Florida businessman Maximo Alvarez warning against the perils of socialism at the #RNC2020 https://t.co/A4lNR2fFmu pic.twitter.com/mqCK1umYOG
He continued to blast the “false promises” of Biden and said they “don’t sound radical to my ears,” rather he said they remind him of what Castro promised to the Cuban people.
“I hear echoes of a former life I never wanted to hear again. I see shadows I thought I had outrun,” he added.
“I may be Cuban-born, but I am 100% American. This the greatest country in the world. And I said this before, if I gave away everything that I have today, it would not equal 1% of what I was given when I came to this great country of ours: the gift of freedom.”
Finally, Alvarez said Americans can choose between Biden, and the rest of the “D.C. swamp,” who he said will “hand the country over to those dangerous forces” of anarchy and communism.
“You and I will decide. And here’s what I’ve decided, my decision is very easy,” he said as he grew visibly emotional. “I choose President Trump because I choose America. I choose freedom.”
“I still hear my dad. There is no other place to go,” he added.
President Donald Trump has sought to paint Biden as a “puppet of left-wing extremists” saying he will “replace American freedom with left-wing fascism.”
However, it is unclear how well his attacks have worked in shaping voters’ opinion of Biden. A recent CBS News poll of voters in Georgia found that a majority of respondents view the former vice president as a moderate candidate.
Biden has vowed to be the “most progressive president in history.” However, he has stayed away from embracing policies held by more progressive members of the party, such as the defund the police push, as IJR reported.