Venice organization with close ties to Cuba speaks out in support of Cuban people

VENICE, Fla. — In the last 30 years, Allen Speer says he’s visited Cuba more than 250 times. Speer, who is the CEO of Agape Flights - a faith-based ministry in Venice - says people from the communist country are suffering more than ever before. "There’s no rice, no beans, no eggs, nothing there. There are no rations anymore," said Speer. Speer said Agape Flights used to be able to fly humanitarian supplies into Cuba, but since sanctions changed during the Trump Administration, now they no longer can. He says most communication in the country has been shut down by the government so people cannot see what is really happening. "We have verification of pastors being drug out and beaten, and being placed in confinement," said Speer. On Thursday, Gov. Ron DeSantis said he’s asking the Biden Administration to help get internet access to Cuba. "The one thing communist regimes fear the most is the truth, and if we’re able to help Cubans communicate to one another and also communicate to the outside world, I think that truth is going to matter," said DeSantis. But Speer says he believes politicians should physically travel to Cuba, and stand next to our neighbors just 90 miles to the South. "I’ve watched them suffer for the cause of freedom and I think its time that we step up as America and say to this regime, 'Enough is enough, liberty must come,'" said Speer.