The Cuban writer Zoe Valdés discussed in an interview with CiberCuba the arrival of a Russian tanker in Cuba, her rejection of a Venezuelan-style transition, and her unwavering stance on forgiveness for the crimes of Castroism, summarized in a phrase she repeated several times: "¡Drones, drones, drones! We must take the heads off all those people".
The author of "La nada cotidiana" and "Te di mi vida entera" granted an interview this Monday to CiberCuba to talk about the transition on the Island and about the authorization from Trump for the ship Anatoli Kolodkin, carrying between 700,000 and 730,000 barrels of crude oil, to arrive at the port of Matanzas.
When CiberCuba asked Valdés about forgiveness, he left no room for doubt: "I cannot forgive those who murdered the children of the tugboat on March 13. I cannot forgive those responsible for the massacre at the Canímar River."
In light of these statements, she recounted, visibly emotional, the impact that compiling the book "In the End, the Sea: Letters from Cuban Rafters" had on her, because during the material selection process she came across a letter that she has not been able to forget: that of a mother raft survivor whose son slipped from her hands while trying to board a rescue boat: "That has never left my mind. Never. I can’t forgive that."
Regarding the method to end the regime, Zoé Valdés is clear: "To pulverize them all, leaving not even a shadow". Without collateral damage, she stated, referring to the careful selectivity of the attack.
Valdés also revealed that he took part in the extraction and safeguarding of documents from the regime outside of Cuba for a future justice process: "They can burn whatever they want to burn. The records will be there."
The author of "In Havana it never gets cold" concluded with a distinction she considers essential: "Forgiveness comes after justice, not before. After justice, each person will decide whether to forgive or not, and that is a daily dialogue with God."
Regarding the Russian oil tanker, Zoé Valdés was straightforward: "This is little; even this won't reach the Cuban people. This is a ship that will arrive, and as always, they will do what they do: they will sell the oil, they will take the oil for themselves. The Cuban people will receive absolutely nothing."
The writer mentioned the possibility that Trump's authorization for a tanker to enter Cuba, after threatening tariffs on those who sell crude oil to the Island through an executive order issued on January 29 of this year, could be linked to the negotiations regarding the war in Ukraine: "I believe this is connected to the war in Ukraine because Trump, and Marco Rubio as well, cannot get the war out of their minds. They have stated this explicitly and implicitly, and they are still in negotiations with Putin."
In this regard, Valdés identified Putin as a key figure in the chain of command operating in Cuba: "Putin is the instructor of Alejandro Castro Espín, who governs Cuba with an iron fist. That’s why I always say we need to take them all down because not a single one can be spared."
He also firmly rejected a negotiated transition in the Venezuelan style: "We cannot settle for the idea of a transition. We must focus on a firm liberation, on radical change, demanding and imposing justice, calling for the Nuremberg of communism, declaring a ban on communism, enforcing law and order."
Regarding the immediate political future, she was skeptical but not pessimistic: "The first government that takes power will fall apart in a way you can't even imagine. We need to bet on the government that comes after it."
In the interview with CiberCuba, he also mentioned the Republican Party of Cuba, which has been in existence for 23 years and has 17 political prisoners. Its general coordinator, the poet and writer María Cristina Garrido, is currently incarcerated after being sentenced to seven years in prison for participating in the protests on July 11th.
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