The Cuban writer Daína Chaviano stated this Sunday that she finds it unlikely that change in Cuba can come from within the island, and she referred to a popular saying to illustrate her belief that the regime will not relinquish power voluntarily.
"Dictatorships must be set on fire like the macaw.... because if not, they won’t go away, they won’t go away on their own," declared the exiled author in Miami since 1991, in an exclusive interview with CiberCuba.
Chaviano was categorical in dismissing the idea that change could arise from within the island. "I don't believe it can come from inside the island," she emphasized.
The proverb used by the writer refers to provoking a drastic and irreversible action, a great upheaval that forces a change that would not happen otherwise.
Although he expressed his wish for the regime to decide to leave, he acknowledged that he does not think it's possible. "I wish they would decide it's time to go, but I don't believe that's going to happen," he said.
On the waiting stage, Chaviano was straightforward. "I would like it to be something very quick, that they eliminate the main culprits of this situation, which is already unsustainable," she argued.
The writer referenced the fall of Nicolás Maduro in Venezuela on January 3. "I wish it could be something like in Venezuela, which is what we are hoping for," she specified.
Chaviano also compared the current situation in Cuba to the Special Period of the 1990s, a time she experienced before going into exile and that she depicted in her novel "El hombre, la hembra y el hambre" (1998). Her verdict was clear: "It's not the same, it's even worse."
He pointed out that the population has returned to cooking with charcoal, something that didn't even happen during that crisis, and that if Cuba were not an island, the country would have already completely emptied of its inhabitants.
"If Cuba were not an island, the country would have already emptied out. What keeps the population somewhat intact is precisely that island quality," he stated.
Chaviano proposed the formation of a committee made up of dissidents and members of civil society within Cuba to manage a transition, and emphasized that the Cuban regime does not even maintain the appearance of electoral processes.
"They were just putting on a show for the elections, all of that which in Cuba is no longer even that, it's been lost... We're all in suspense, those of us living outside and those who are inside the island as well," the writer concluded.
Chaviano's statements come at a time of high tension. The Cuban economy could contract by 7.2% in 2026, totaling a decline of nearly 23% since 2019, according to projections from the Economist Intelligence Unit.
Maduro's departure from power cut off the supply of subsidized Venezuelan oil to Cuba, which worsened the energy crisis with daily blackouts of over 20 hours in various areas of the island.
On April 11, a delegation from the U.S. Department of State met in Havana with representatives from the circle of Raúl Castro, including his grandson Raúl Guillermo Rodríguez Castro, according to a report from the American outlet Axios.
Washington warned that the Cuban economy is "in free fall" and demanded the release of political prisoners and free elections, the source noted.
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