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The Cuban pilot and former military man Orestes Lorenzo Pérez stated this Monday that the Island is going through a decisive moment for its political future.
In a post on Facebook, he stated: "Today, Cuba has the opportunity to achieve its freedom," and listed the reasons why, in his opinion, the current situation cannot be explained by economic factors or external circumstances.
Lorenzo emphasized that this moment is not due to "the end of the oil subsidy from Venezuela," nor "because he can no longer charge for providing thugs to another country," nor "his miserable military incompetence," nor "the arrest of his ally Maduro," nor even "the hunger that Cubans are suffering."
For the former official, the substantial difference lies in a fundamental change: "Cuba now has the real opportunity to put an end to that brutal plague that oppresses it because, for the first time in its history, the impunity that the murderers who govern it always enjoyed has come to an end."
"Today there will be no crime without consequences," he stated emphatically.
And he suggested that the outcome depends on the citizens' reaction. "If the people understand that, they will know that their victory is just a step away by taking to the streets," he concluded.
A day earlier, Lorenzo had published another text in which he issued a direct warning to those in power on the Island.
"Will they listen or will they cling to what will inevitably come to an end? The difference for them, as I mentioned before, is reaching the natural end of their lives or being violently dispatched," he wrote.
Next, he shared a message from president Donald Trump sent to the Cuban government, clarifying what the only possible solution for the country is following the arrest of the dictator Nicolás Maduro in Venezuela.
In his post, the Cuban pilot quoted the words of the U.S. president, who recalled that Cuba thrived for many years thanks to oil and money from Venezuela, and in return offered "security services" to Chávez and Maduro, but that is over now.
He also included the assertion that "most of those Cubans are dead due to the U.S. attack," as well as Trump's final warning: "There will be no more oil or money going to Cuba - Zero! I strongly suggest that you make a deal, before it's too late!".
Lorenzo's publications are part of a series of recent statements in which he has critically analyzed the role of Cuban forces in Venezuela and the impact that the events of recent weeks have had on the power structure in Havana.
From Miami, the former military official has stated that the Cuban soldiers who died during the U.S. operation that culminated in the capture of Nicolás Maduro were not prepared for a conventional confrontation.
According to their assessment, those soldiers were not trained to confront "a well-armed and organized enemy," but rather to repress and control unarmed civilians, which, in their view, explains the scale of the casualties.
"Confronting a well-armed and organized enemy? Nah, they never learned that. And they paid with their lives for it," he wrote.
Lorenzo has questioned the real function of the Cuban military sent to Venezuela, stating that their main mission was not to engage in combat, but to support allied governments and maintain internal order in sympathetic regimes.
The death of 32 Cuban military personnel, officially recognized as members of the FAR and MININT, revealed a presence that had been denied for years by the official discourse.
The government declared two days of national mourning following those deaths and presented the fallen as "heroes," while Lorenzo used this event to strengthen his criticism of the model that prioritizes the defense of foreign dictatorships over the internal needs of the population.
His analyses hold particular weight due to his own background. Lorenzo defected from the Cuban Air Force in 1991 aboard a MiG-23BN and later returned clandestinely to Cuba to rescue his family in a high-risk operation that became one of the most well-known episodes in the recent history of the Cuban exile community.
In this context, his most recent statements not only represent a political reading of the current moment but also a direct call to the citizenry, asserting that, for the first time, the impunity of power in Cuba has begun to crack and that the outcome will depend on the reaction of the people themselves.
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