The Venezuelan opposition leader María Corina Machado sent a strong message to the Cuban exile community gathered in Miami this Saturday, during the conference “Save Cuba,” organized by the Cuban Democratic Directorate (DDC) for its 35th anniversary.
“Venezuela is finally very close to achieving freedom, and then we will move forward together for Cuba and Nicaragua,” stated the leader who managed to unite the opposition against the regime of Nicolás Maduro and inflicted a crushing defeat on him in July 2024, during the presidential elections in which chavismo was ultimately declared the winner, in a move widely denounced as fraudulent.
El encuentro, que se celebra este sábado en el Big Five Club de Miami, congrega a líderes políticos, congresistas estadounidenses, activistas cubanos y voces internacionales decididas a trazar una estrategia de cambio democrático en la isla, en medio de lo que los organizadores califican como “la peor crisis humanitaria de su historia”.
In a recorded message, Machado expressed her gratitude for the support of U.S. congressmen present at the meeting — including María Elvira Salazar, Mario Díaz-Balart, and Carlos Giménez— whom she referred to as “allies of the democratic cause throughout the region.” The leader emphasized that Venezuela is going through a decisive moment after “26 years of continuous struggle” against what she described as “a criminal and narcoterrorist regime.”
“Today our country is close to being free. And when that happens, we will immediately go for Cuba and Nicaragua to build a region free from communism, narco-terrorism, and tyranny,” emphasized the opposition member, who denounced the persecution of activists, enforced disappearances, and the existence of over 800 political prisoners in her country.
A diplomatic offensive against the Cuban regime
According to Diario de las Américas, the event "Save Cuba" aims to consolidate a national "salvation movement" that unites Cubans both on and off the island, strengthened by international alliances. Orlando Gutiérrez-Boronat, coordinator of the DDC and the Assembly of the Cuban Resistance, warned that the goal is to "free Cuba from the regime that oppresses it" and called for intensified political and diplomatic pressure.
Among the international guests, Björn Söder, a Swedish parliamentarian who has advocated in Europe for the suspension of European Union funds to the Cuban government, stands out, as well as Rosa María Payá, director of Cuba Decide, who will continue the course of action initiated by her father, Oswaldo Payá, an opposition figure and leader of the Christian Liberation Movement, murdered by the Cuban regime, according to independent investigations and reports from the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights.
The DDC also received support from the Reformismo21 Foundation of Spain, whose president, Pablo Vázquez, acknowledged “the steadfast commitment to defending human rights and the peaceful transition to democracy in Cuba.”
Una sociedad civil madura que reclama salvar a Cuba
The conference "Saving Cuba" takes place at a time when civil society within the island has reached an unprecedented level of maturity. The protests of November 27 in 2020 in front of the Ministry of Culture, driven by young artists and members of the San Isidro Movement, marked a turning point in the peaceful resistance to authoritarianism.
That seed of discontent took root strongly on July 11, 2021 (11J), when thousands of Cubans in over fifty locations took to the streets shouting "freedom" and "homeland and life," in the largest wave of anti-government protests in six decades.
Since then, despite the repression and imprisonment of hundreds of citizens, new expressions of dissent have multiplied. Families of political prisoners, independent journalists, artists, and Catholic priests have raised their voices against the crisis and state violence, showing that fear is no longer an absolute barrier to the desire for change.
Statements such as the “six steps to save Cuba” that originated in Camagüey, or the pastoral messages from Catholic bishops calling for structural transformations, are evidence that Cuban society is currently debating a national project beyond the limits imposed by the regime.
This internal awakening connects with an exile that, after decades of resistance, is increasingly articulated in collective initiatives such as the Cuban Resistance Assembly, Cuba Decide, and Citizenship and Freedom, among others.
The confluence of both shores is generating a shared vision of the nation, where the demand for the release of political prisoners, respect for fundamental freedoms, and the call for free elections constitute points of consensus.
"Saving Cuba" is no longer just a slogan of the exiles, but also a cry from the Cubans on the island who have shown organizational ability, political creativity, and a willingness to sacrifice.
That maturity, forged in adversity, points towards a scenario in which democratic change is not conceived as an external act, but as the joint construction of a free and plural nation, born from the resistance of its own people.
A common cause
Machado concluded his speech with a message of regional unity: “Cuba and Venezuela share the same cause. There is nothing more powerful than a people who have decided to be free. Long live free Cuba, long live free Venezuela.”
With this statement, the Venezuelan opposition figure aligned her country's struggle with that of the Cuban exile, reinforcing the idea that the fall of chavismo could open a new political cycle in Latin America.
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