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Bella Thorne is calling on world politicians, including President Biden, to assist in putting an end to the suffering of citizens in Cuba on the heels of the country’s new 10% tax on food sales.
Cuba announced the tax earlier this month. It targets those who are self-employed and small- and medium-sized companies in the retail sector of the food industry.
It’s a move that’s disheartened the 24-year-old actress and singer, who is half-Cuban. In an interview with Fox News Digital, Thorne expressed her discontent with the economic woes Cubans are facing and called for Biden to lead the charge in helping those who will be affected the most.
“I oppose the new tax on food sales by the anti-democratic Cuban regime because it amplifies the serious suffering of the people of Cuba,” the former Disney actress said.
Bella Thorne attends the photocall of the movie “Time Is Up” during the 19th Alice Nella Città 2021 at Casa Alice on Oct. 16, 2021 in Rome.
(Daniele Venturelli/WireImage)
“It’s a heartless move that deeply saddens me and motivates me to want to do even more me to fight to bring democracy to Cuba. I hold the tyrannical thugs in power accountable for this decision and the wave of brutal suffering it will inflict on the Cuban people who only want to be free like you and I are as Americans.”
‘Dictatorship controls everything’
Thorne called attention to the “brutal corrupt dictatorship” that the Cuban people have been living under for “over 60 years.” She asked Biden to “think about what it would be like as Americans to live six decades where you can’t share your thoughts or decide who represents you politically.”
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“The dictatorship controls everything in Cuba, including media and access to the internet,” she continued. “President Biden can work to give more tools to access the internet to Cubans so they can prevent the Cuban government from suppressing activist messages on social media.”
“President Biden can work to give more tools to access the internet to Cubans so they can prevent the Cuban government from suppressing activist messages on social media.”
Specifically, Thorne pointed to the utilization of tools like Psiphon, which she said is a “free open-source internet censorship circumvention app, so Cubans can communicate with one another to fight internet censorship by sophisticated firewalls.”
The singer called the timing of the levy “catastrophic” given the country is going through its worst economic crisis in decades, along with coronavirus cases.
“There is no respect for human rights in Cuba,” she said.
According to reports, low-income households are likely to be affected the most by the new tax. Thorne said her “fight for freedom [for Cuba] hits deep in my heart.”
Bella Thorne is half-Cuban.
(Daniele Venturelli/WireImage )
In a message to the Cuban people, Thorne shared: “My heart goes out to you, and the raw suffering you are continuing to experience. As Americans, just know we care about freedom and we join with you because you deserve to be free. One day the Cuban regime will fall, so don’t lose hope. You will see a day where your desire for freedom like we have in America will come to you.”
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Diagnosed with dyslexia
Thorne’s father, Delancey Reinaldo Thorne, was a first-generation Cuban born on a military base in Key West, Florida. She said Spanish was her first language as a child and then was diagnosed with dyslexia in third grade.
Bella Thorne attends the 21st Annual Warner Bros. And InStyle Golden Globe After Party at The Beverly Hilton Hotel in January 2020.
(Getty Images)
“I could not read or write at all, so the learning center I was going to recommended I concentrate on English as it would be too hard to concentrate on both languages,” she said.
This is not the first time the star has publicly advocated for the people of Cuba.
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Amid a resurgence of coronavirus cases and rampant inflation in the country last July, Thorne posted an image of her father and her siblings on her Instagram with a lengthy caption calling for international aid to help the people of the embattled country.
“I don’t know my family in Cuba. I’ve never been able to travel and meet them,” she wrote. “I don’t know if they are caught up in the violence right now, if they have food, water or medicine. I don’t know if they are safe or survived the pandemic which is surging across that beautiful island. What I do know is that Cuba needs our help.”
