The Cuban influencer Alex Otaola directed a direct message this Friday to the President of the United States, Donald Trump, and the Secretary of State, Marco Rubio, urging them to act promptly against the Cuban regime.
It’s now or never, Mr. Trump, we want action now,” he stated. He then appealed directly to the head of U.S. diplomacy: “Secretary of State, Mr. Marco Rubio, we want to be heard, we demand to be taken into account.”
Otaola made it clear that he and his followers do not support a process of negotiations with Havana.
“We do not want dialogues with the dictatorship, we do not want to give the regime's rulers a way out. We want them to pay for their crimes, we do not want to give a safe conduct to the executioners of the Cuban people,” he declared.
In his statement, he also urged Washington not to announce decisions that have already been made without considering the more traditional sector of the Cuban exile community in Miami.
"They need to consider us, and they must do so by listening to our requests, not by communicating what they have already decided. That is not taking us into account," he stated.
The influencer urged Trump and Rubio for the United States' actions in Cuba to be similar to those taken this Saturday with the regime in Iran.
"There was no mercy for Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, there should be no mercy for Raúl Castro. There was no mercy for the leaders of Iranian repression, there should be no mercy for the one who ordered the fight against the Cuban people. The situation in Cuba is not an economic or humanitarian problem; it is a political problem," he stated.
Otaola expressed support for Donald Trump's government but also issued a warning to the president and his Secretary of State.
"We are thousands of Cubans who voted for this administration, and we will go out to vote again in November because we believe this administration is the only one genuinely interested in bringing peace to the hemisphere, but we do not accept any kind of deal with the dictatorship."
Ongoing contacts with the Cuban power elite
The statements come after Trump claimed that Rubio is “holding conversations with the regime” of Cuba “at a very high level,” when asked about a potential political change on the island.
"Cuba at this moment is a nation that is failing," said the leader, who described the situation as "very bad" and stated that the country is facing a severe crisis: "They have no money, no oil, no food."
Last week, officials close to Rubio held a discreet meeting in Saint Kitts with Raúl Guillermo Rodríguez Castro, the grandson of Raúl Castro and an influential figure within the Cuban power structure, on the sidelines of the CARICOM summit.
According to reports cited by the Miami Herald, the talks would explore potential gradual relief of sanctions in exchange for progressive economic changes in Cuba.
Otaola's message introduces public pressure from a sector of the exile community that demands a firmer stance from the Trump administration and rejects any negotiations that could ease or prolong the current regime's hold on power.
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