The administration of Donald Trump is reportedly attempting to remove the Cuban leader Miguel Díaz-Canel from power as a condition for achieving significant progress in the talks it is having with Havana, according to a report published this Monday by The New York Times.
According to that information, U.S. officials allegedly communicated to Cuban negotiators that Díaz-Canel must resign, although they would leave it to the Cuban side to determine how to carry out that step.
According to the article, the demand arises amidst a process of communication between officials from both countries regarding the future of Cuba, which the document describes as an island governed by communism and under economic siege.
Four individuals familiar with the conversations have indicated to The New York Times that Washington seeks to oust Díaz-Canel without dismantling, at least for now, the general apparatus of the communist regime that has ruled the Island for over 65 years.
The report emphasizes that the measure would not necessarily imply an attempt to dismantle the entire command structure of the Cuban system.
On the contrary, it argues that Díaz-Canel's departure would leave the communist government intact and that, up to now, the United States has not been pressuring to take action against members of the Castro family, whom the text itself identifies as the main holders of real power in the country.
That accuracy is supported, according to the document, by two of the cited sources.
According to that version, the logic of the White House would not be one of complete regime change, but rather of forcing an internal adjustment that encourages greater obedience or compliance from the Cuban system.
Control the regime
The text notes that this approach aligns with a broader desire of Trump and his advisors to impose discipline on the regime rather than to promote a complete transformation of its political nature.
One of the sources cited in the document also provides an explanation regarding the political calculation behind that demand.
According to this viewpoint, some officials in the Trump Administration believe that the removal of Díaz-Canel would pave the way for structural economic changes in Cuba that would be unlikely to receive his support, as he is described as a hardline leader.
From that perspective, the Cuban leader would be seen in Washington as an obstacle to deeper economic reforms.
The text also warns about the potential implications of that maneuver. If the Cuban authorities were to accept Díaz-Canel's departure, this would represent, according to the document, the first major political upheaval resulting from the bilateral talks that began a few months ago.
In other words, it would not be a minor or symbolic concession, but rather a high-impact movement within the structure of power on the Island.
From the American perspective outlined in the report, a forced resignation of the Cuban president would also hold internal political value for Trump.
One source claims that this outcome would allow the president to present it to the American public as a symbolic victory: the downfall of the leader of a government historically opposed to the United States.
The text even suggests that Trump could leverage that outcome similarly to how he may have politically capitalized on other movements in Venezuela.
The document, which only refers to sources "familiar with the matter," makes it clear that Washington has placed the permanence of the Cuban president as a central point within the current negotiating process.
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