Haddam - In a call to his party's leadership, State Sen. Art Linares, R-Westbrook, urged Republicans on Friday evening to work together to end the dictatorship in Cuba.

Linares gave the keynote address to about 250 Republicans at Grassroots East's Annual Candidate Appreciation Dinner at The Riverhouse at Goodspeed Station.

After recognizing Republican leaders and expressing optimism about a new tone in Hartford, Linares delved into U.S. and Cuban relations. The 26-year-old senator, who is now serving his second term, recounted how a pregnant woman and her family fled, penniless, from Havana in the 1960s for Spain, after a once-thriving Cuba came to a halt under Fidel Castro's regime.

"I know this story because among them was a 7-year-old boy, Art Linares, who 46 years later would see his son become a Connecticut state senator," he said to a room of applause.

Linares was first elected in 2012 as state senator for the district that encompasses the towns of Chester, Clinton, Colchester, Deep River, East Haddam, East Hampton, Essex, Haddam, Lyme, Old Saybrook, Portland and Westbrook. Linares is also the co-founder of Greenskies Renewable Energy LLC, a Middletown-based solar company.

Linares said in Cuba today, buildings are crumbling and people are impoverished, and the Castro brothers have executed thousands.

But he said President Barack Obama's move to normalize relations with Cuba was an attempt to take away from defeats in the midterm elections and his foreign policy failures, and those of former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.

He instead praised former president Ronald Reagan's strong leadership in the face of the Soviet Union.

With Cuba being only 90 miles away from the United States, he said he understands there is need for the Cuban community and the U.S. to communicate, but he stressed that Cuba's government needs to understand that "dialogue is two-way street."

In the beginning of his speech, Linares said that there is a different feeling now in Hartford with more Republicans from eastern Connecticut joining the General Assembly.

With a backdrop of posters stating "Worst Debt in the U.S." and "Out of Control Spending," many Republicans struck a confident chord at the event held by the local group, which raises funding and offers services for the campaigns of Republican candidates within the 2nd Congressional District.

State Rep. Devin Carney, who was elected in November to his first term representing Lyme, Old Lyme, Old Saybrook and Westbrook, was the event's emcee, and peppered the evening with jokes.

Rob Simmons, a Stonington selectman and former U.S. congressman, also gave a speech, and Grassroots East Chairman Ed Munster praised the wins by Republicans in the last election.

k.drelich@theday.com

Twitter: @KimberlyDrelich