"Former senator Rick Santorum said Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez was a “puppet” of former Cuban President Fidel Castro."

Republican presidential candidates talk tough on Cuba, Venezuela

Washington, DC, United States (AHN) – Chances the U.S. government will improve relations with Cuba and Venezuela if Republicans win the next presidential election appeared to dim during the Florida primary debate Thursday evening.

Major candidates, such as Mitt Romney and Newt Gingrich, both advocated a hard line toward the socialist regimes of Cuba and Venezuela.

During the face-off in Miami, Romney said “it is time for us to strike for freedom in Cuba.”

“If I’m fortunate enough to become the next president of the United States, it is my expectation that Fidel Castro will finally be taken off this planet,” Romney said. “I doubt he’ll take any time in the sky. He’ll find a nether region to be more to his comfort.”

Romney also accused President Barack Obama of taking the “wrong direction” by trying to be conciliatory toward Cuban President Raul Castro and leaders of other countries that have been U.S. adversaries.

Gingrich said he would take more direct action against Cuba.

“The plan would be to take all of the tools that Ronald Reagan, Pope John Paul II and Prime Minister Thatcher used to break the Soviet Empire,” Gingrich said. “They went at it psychologically, they went at it economically, they went at it diplomatically, they went at it with covert operations. They maximized the growth of solidarity. They provided tools.”

Gingrich said he would tell young Cubans that “you have no future propping up the dictatorship. You have a wonderful future if you are willing to become a democracy.”

Former senator Rick Santorum said Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez was a “puppet” of former Cuban President Fidel Castro.

The candidates’ statements drew an angry response from Castro, whose brother has succeeded him as Cuba’s president.

Castro accused the presidential candidates of “idiocy and ignorance” in a commentary published Friday on the Cuba Debate website.

He called the Republican contenders “the candidates that aspire to be the president of that globalized imperialist reign.”

Castro praised Venezuela’s Chavez in his 2,100-word commentary. He called Venezuela a “brother nation” for its refusal to participate in a U.S.-supported free trade agreement with Latin American countries.

He said the agreement would allow the United States to exploit South America’s natural resources.

Romney and Gingrich’s rhetoric against Cuba and Venezuela continued Friday, when they attended a conference of Hispanic leaders in the Miami suburb of Doral, Florida.

Romney said that if he is elected president, he would appoint an envoy to assess each Latin American country’s progress toward democracy and freedom.

Countries that ranked highly would get U.S. support, while others — particularly the ones that followed policies like those of Castro and Chavez — would be shunned.

Gingrich said Chavez was the greatest threat to the United States since the former Soviet Union.

The candidates also were questioned by the Spanish language news media about their immigration policies.

Both the candidates support more border security to keep out illegal immigrants. Romney wants to harshly fine employers who hire illegal immigrants.

They said they are not against immigration, only illegal immigration.

Gingrich said he would like to see visa restrictions lifted to allow more Latin American tourists and business travelers to visit the United States.

The Cuban government took note of the Republican candidates tough talk in an announcement this week.

The official government gazette announced a large military training maneuver planned for next November to coincide with the presidential elections.

The announcement said the Cuban military would pursue a strategy of using decentralized strike squads to attack a larger invading Army with sophisticated weapons, similar to the United States.