The statements made by President Donald Trump regarding the possibility of "taking Cuba" have sparked a debate within the Cuban exile community, which welcomes this rhetoric with hope but also with caution, as it has not been heard with such intensity in decades.
This is how DW Español reported it in their coverage of the impact of these statements on the Cuban-American community.
Last Monday, Trump stated from the Oval Office: "I believe I will have the honor of taking Cuba. That would be good. It’s a great honor. Whether I liberate it or take it, I believe I can do anything I want with it."
He also described the island as "a very weakened nation... They have no money, they have nothing. They have beautiful land," and added that "something will happen soon" in the conversations that Washington is holding with Havana.
In Little Havana in Miami, those words evoke mixed feelings. According to DW, after 67 years of dictatorship, the Cuban-American community longs for change but fears repeating the Venezuelan precedent, where the fall of Nicolás Maduro—captured by the United States in January—left the regime's power circle largely intact.
José Daniel Ferrer, leader of UNPACU and former political prisoner of the Cuban regime, summarized the dilemma in three scenarios:
"The continuation of the current situation, that is the worst. Therefore, no reasonable Cuban wants it. Second, a Venezuelan-style process. We wouldn't like it, we don't want it, but it would be preferable to the first option. And third, the option that we all want and desire: swift transition to democracy."
Ferrer was clear about the limits of what the exile community accepts: "We also do not want Cuba to end up being a protectorate or a nation dependent on the United States. We want a free, democratic Cuba with justice, an independent and sovereign Cuba, allied with the United States, but also with all of the West."
These three positions on political change reflect the diversity of opinions within the diaspora.
The film director Lilo Vilaplana, exiled for almost 29 years, called upon justice and historical memory as essential conditions: "If the wounds are not healed, nothing will be healed in Cuba. It is necessary to heal those wounds for a new republic to be born, for the nation to be saved, for the nation to heal."
From Havana, Miguel Díaz-Canel responded on Wednesday on X with a defiant tone: "The United States publicly threatens Cuba almost daily, with plans to forcibly overthrow the constitutional order. They intend to and announce plans to take over the country," and promised that "any external aggressor will face an impenetrable resistance", under the hashtag #CubaEstáFirme.
The crisis surrounding these statements is real and profound. After Maduro's capture, Cuba lost its supply of Venezuelan oil, and local production barely meets 40% of energy demand, with blackouts affecting between 10 and 11 million people.
According to Bloomberg, the Washington strategy for Cuba does not involve a military invasion—rejected by 53% of Americans—but rather a gradual economic pressure to make Cuba financially dependent, with a potential negotiated exit for Díaz-Canel.
Trump also mentioned Secretary of State Marco Rubio as a key player in the process, assuring at the Americas Shield Summit that Rubio "will take an hour off and finalize an agreement with Cuba."
The predominant sentiment in exile, however, was clearly summed up by a phrase circulating in Little Havana: after 67 years of waiting, no one here wants to exchange a dictatorship for a protectorate.
Filed under: