Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas). (CNN screenshot)

(CNSNews.com) – Commenting on President Barack Obama’s upcoming trip to Communist Cuba, where he will visit with dictator Raul Castro, Senator Ted Cruz (R-Texas) said it was wrong to help “tyrants who hate America,” and noted that after Cuba lost the USSR and then Venezuela as sponsors, the Obama administration stepped “in with a lifeline.”

“You know, if you look at Cuba when the Soviet Union collapsed, they lost their major patron, their source of money,” Sen. Cruz told Anderson Cooper during the CNN Republican Presidential Townhall on on Wednesday.

“But then what happened is Venezuela stepped in and became a patron,” said Cruz. “And you saw the oil revenues -- and actually Cuba had a corrupt bargain where they would send thugs, they would send soldiers down to Venezuela, that they would use to oppress the citizens there -- and in exchange Venezuela would send money.”

“Well, as oil prices have been tanking, Venezuela's economy is in freefall,” said the senator. “And suddenly Cuba was again on the ropes. The Castros were again on the ropes. And just like with Iran, the Obama administration steps in with a lifeline.”

Cruz’s father, Rafael, fled Cuba in 1957 after being tortured by the Batista regime and realizing that Fidel Castro was not a democratic reformer but a hardcore Communist.

Earlier in the conversation, CNN’s Cooper asked, “We just learned while we were on the air, President Obama plans to visit Cuba next month. I don't know if you had heard that. But I'm wondering, as president, is that something you would do?”

Senator Cruz answered, “It is not as long as the Castros are in power. And I will say I was saddened to hear that -- I wasn't surprised. This was foreshadowed for a long time.”

“And, you know, President Obama's foreign policy has consistently alienated and abandoned our friends,” said Cruz. “There has never been an administration more hostile and antagonistic to Israel than the Obama administration.”

President Barack Obama and Cuban dictator Raul Castro, brother of Fidel Castro. (AP)

“And what President Obama has shown to our enemies is weakness and appeasement,” he said. “So his policy concerning Cuba and Iran both have parallels where he's allowing billions of dollars to go to tyrants who hate America, who are state sponsors of terrorism, who are fighting against our nation.”

“I think it's a real mistake,” said Cruz. “I think the president ought to instead be pushing for a free Cuba. It's 90 miles off the coast of America. And to go there and essentially act as an apologist.”

“You know, it was really striking when the Cuban officials came to Washington with the opening of the embassy, a Cuban dissident came, and came to the press conference and wanted to ask a question,” Cruz continued. “And the John Kerry State Department said, if she asked a question, she would be forcibly and physically removed. “

“And I -- you know, I remember being astonished, because, look, I expected that treatment in Cuba,” said Cruz. “That's what they do to free speech here. But the Obama State Department was happy to silence a dissident to protect the Cubans from even asking questions.”

“I mean, listen, my dad was imprisoned and tortured in Cuba,” said Cruz. “He fought with Castro in the revolution and he was imprisoned and tortured by Batista. And then my aunt, my Tia Sonia, was imprisoned and tortured by Castro. And so my family has seen firsthand the evil and the oppression in Cuba.”