The Cuban opposition leader José Daniel Ferrer emphasized that the Trump Administration's policy towards Cuba is the right one.
"The U.S. policy towards Cuba is the right one. Those who criticize it have the right to do so, but it benefits the tyranny, not the people or the opposition. We appreciate the firm and supportive stance of the United States," he said in a video on X.
Ferrer believes that this is "the best policy we have had in a long time" and that "most Cubans both inside and in exile applaud and appreciate it."
"Greater repression leads to more discontent and more protests," which results in the tyranny "suppressing with greater force."
Ferrer believes that the only valid response to the increase in repression is “greater sanctions” so that the regime knows that “its days are numbered.”
The statement from Ferrer comes after the opposition figure Manuel Cuesta Morúa said that the pressures from the Trump Administration on the Cuban regime are suffocating the people.
“US policy of maximum pressure against the tyranny does not suffocate Cuba, as Cuesta Morúa suggests,” Ferrer said in a comment on the article in which CiberCuba reported Morúa’s statements that “suffocating Cuba only strengthens repression.”
"Pressure is being applied to the tyranny. The goal is to save Cuba. When Obama's policy of rapprochement was in effect, repression reached unprecedented levels. Repression increases as activism against the tyranny grows, and the maximum pressure policy is the only one that can prevent the regime from repressing as they did on July 11, 2021," Ferrer believes, in contrast to Morúa.
"Nothing could be further from the truth. Tyranny is cowardly, and when it knows there will be no consequences, it represses more fiercely. The increase in repression at this time is due to the rise in activism, and if the U.S. shows that things are very serious, and that as repression increases, the punishment will be greater, they will eventually be held in check," he added.
"And if Europeans and Canadians also adopted a maximum pressure policy, it would contain them more quickly. The U.S. must continue with its current policy. It is the most supportive of the Cuban people and the democratic opposition," he concluded.
In an interview with EFE, Morúa, the newly elected president of the Council for Democratic Transition in Cuba (CDTC), stated that “90% of this country wants change and that this social majority is the foundation for a democratic transition with sovereignty, driven from within and without external impositions."
Cuesta Morúa describes a country trapped in a "geopolitical trap" created by the government itself, which is unwilling to negotiate either with the Cuban people or with the international community.
However, regarding Washington's role, Cuesta Morúa argues that it should be one of support and respect for sovereignty.
"If a negotiation table is opened among Cubans, then (the U.S.) should support it, encourage it, and do everything necessary to ensure that the process reaches a successful conclusion," he said.
At the same time, he warns against delegating the transition to external actors: “What Venezuela is currently demonstrating is that those who placed the strongest bets on a transition by ceding sovereignty are out of the transition game."
One of the most sensitive aspects of his analysis is the strategy to "squeeze" Cuba by preventing the arrival of oil and fuels. The country imports two-thirds of its energy, and the cutoff of supplies exacerbates blackouts and productive paralysis.
For Cuesta Morúa, that tactic does not bring us closer to democracy.
"Provoking an outbreak only serves to strengthen the repressive machinery of the State." He also warns that this path could lead to "an even worse humanitarian situation" than the current general collapse.
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