President Joe Biden's recent moves on Foreign Policy issues could be decisive in November, and State Attorney candidates face off in a local debate.

Foreign Policy looms large in voter's minds ahead of November

The U.S. economy may be the top issue on voters’ minds in this election, but foreign policy concerns took center stage this week.

President Joe Biden’s decisions on the Middle East, and now the Caribbean, have drawn strong responses from both sides of the aisle.

First, Florida’s communist neighbor, Cuba, is no longer on a list of countries that are not fully cooperating with the U.S. on counterterrorism efforts.

The State Department says there were multiple factors that contributed to Cuba’s change of status, including the fact that the U.S. and Cuba resumed law enforcement cooperation in 2023.

While the Cuban government celebrated the decision Wednesday, they suggested it wasn’t enough, since Cuba remains on another list that still designates it as a sponsor of terrorism.

In response to the move, Sen. Marco Rubio posted on X: “This move by the Biden administration is absurd and it will enable terrorism in our hemisphere."

North Korea, Iran, Syria, and Venezuela remain on the list of the countries that are not cooperating on counterterrorism efforts.

Not far from Cuba, in the Turks and Caicos, five U.S. tourists have been arrested after they were accused of carrying ammunition to the islands.

The latest arrest was of a 45-year-old woman from Orlando. Three of the other suspects are from Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, and Virginia.

The governors of those states have written to the governor of the islands, asking them to reconsider the charges and expedite their release.

The State Department says they’re aware of the arrests

And concerning the other side of the world, Israel’s military says it has found three bodies of three Israeli hostages in a tunnel below the Gaza Strip.

The IDF says they were killed at the NOVA music festival in October.

This comes after the U.S. House of Representatives passed a bipartisan measure that would force Biden to resume providing bombs and artillery to Israel.

The administration paused shipments, citing concerns about potential civilian casualties resulting from Israel’s operations in Rafah.

Sixteen democrats voted for the bill, including Floridians Lois Frankel, Darren Soto, and Jared Moskowitz.

Biden said he will veto the legislation if it manages to pass the Senate.

Florida Sen. Rick Scott is sponsoring that Senate bill.

Today, Ybeth Bruzual asked Scott how his proposal is different from a Biden plan to sell arms to Israel.

“The money that Biden has given them is not something they’re gonna get anytime soon,” he said. “They’ve got to get it now. They’re at war now.”

Hillsborough County State Attorney candidates face off at Tiger Bay meeting

The candidates running for Hillsborough County State Attorney faced off Friday in a debate hosted by the Tampa Tiger Bay Club at Hotel Haya in Ybor City. Current State Attorney Suzy Lopez will run against either former State Attorney, Andrew Warren, or Elizabeth Strauss.

The race will likely be contentious. Gov. Ron DeSantis appointed Lopez after removing Warren from his position for alleged “neglect of duty” after he signed a pledge not to prosecute crimes from abortion or gender transitional care. 

At the event, the three candidates answered questions from the crowd, with Warren defending his decision to run to reclaim the position.

It was a sold-out crowd at the Tampa Tiger Bay meeting, with 200 people there to hear from the Hillsborough County State Attorney candidates, and one of the first questions asked sparked the most heat.

“Can you explain in layman’s terms what the opinion said and what you think of the analysis that the judges wrote?” asked someone in the audience. 

He was referring to the judge’s opinions on Warren v. DeSantis in the Court of Appeals. Warren sued DeSantis, saying he suspended him for political reasons and violated his First Amendment rights.

“The Governor broke the law by suspending me for violating my free speech rights and taking away your rights as voters, but the important questions is, as elected officials we’re all supposed to uphold the law and the most important decision miss Lopez has faced in office is whether to uphold that decision and she’s declined,” said Warren.

Lopez called out Warren, saying the former state attorney lost his job because he wasn’t doing his job.

“My predecessor also took that oath, but in failing to prosecute entire categories of crime and signing a pledge that he would not prosecute certain categories of crime, you may as well take that oath and wipe a dog’s rear end with it,” said Lopez.

And Elizabeth Martinez Strauss, who agreed with Warren, in part, but also questioned him for even running.

“What Gov. DeSantis did in my opinion was wrong, but that doesn’t change the fact that he’s still the governor and Andrew Warren still isn’t in office," Strauss said. "To quote Andrew Warren just a few months ago, he said, 'If I ran and won, the governor could suspend me again for whatever bogus reason he wanted, and then we would be right back where we started with an illegal unqualified political appointee installed in the job.'” 

Warren and Strauss will face off in the August primary. Whoever wins will run against Lopez in November. 

Lawmakers advocate for immigration reforms for Venezuelan nationals

As political and economic conditions in Venezuela remain dire, some lawmakers in Congress are pushing for immigration reforms to help those seeking refuge in the United States, as well as legislation to strengthen democracy in Venezuela. 

Florida Democratic Reps. Darren Soto and Debbie Wasserman Schultz held a press conference outside the Capitol Friday alongside immigration advocates.

“So many folks want to come here to work and pursue the American dream," Soto said. "We want to make sure they have that opportunity,."

Last June, a group of bipartisan House lawmakers, including Soto and Republican Rep. Maria Elvira Salazar, introduced the Venezuelan Adjustment Act. The legislation would create a pathway for permanent residency status for some Venezuelan nationals in the U.S. But, it has stalled in the House Judiciary Committee.

The Biden Administration has granted Temporary Protected Status for Venezuelan nationals in the United States, as well as Humanitarian Parole for those seeking asylum. One TPS recipient said it has made a big impact in her life and the life of others.

“We’re able to invest in our future now, we can dream in investing, buying a house, raising families, creating new jobs for more people here, even Americans,” said Raymart Vasquez Marquez with Casa Venezuela Dallas. 

Bipartisan lawmakers are also co-sponsoring bills aimed at strengthening democracy in Venezuela.

“The first is the AFFECT Human Rights in Venezuela Act, which directs support for investigations into the Maduro regime’s crimes against humanity. The second is the VOICE Act, which slaps sanctions on regime cronies responsible for banning opposition leader María Corina Machado’s presidential candidacy,” Wasserman Schultz said. 

Venezuela’s presidential election is slated to take place in July.