Mileidy Guilarte, a former White House official during the Obama era and currently a professor at Francisco de Vitoria University in Spain, stated yesterday, in response to a question from CiberCuba, that if she were an advisor to Cuban leader Miguel Díaz-Canel, she would recommend he go into exile as soon as possible.
When asked what advice she would give to Díaz-Canel at this moment, Guilarte responded without hesitation: "Leave as soon as possible, definitely," and suggested destinations such as North Korea and Nicaragua.
The statement was made at the end of a 45-minute interview, in the context of the opaque negotiations between the Cuban regime and the Trump Administration.
The expert acknowledged that the question caught her by surprise. "You've asked me a question that I don't think anyone has ever asked me before, nor can I even imagine," she remarked in response to journalist Tania Costa.
Negotiations between Cuba and the U.S. have reached a point this week where Díaz-Canel made it clear that "if the United States does not agree to negotiate on Cuban terms, there is no negotiation."
According to American press reports confirmed by both parties, a delegation from the Department of State met on April 10 in Havana with their Cuban counterparts, and during that meeting, a 15-day ultimatum was set for the Cuban communists to release political prisoners, including high-profile figures like artists Luis Manuel Otero Alcántara and Maykel Osorbo.
The deadline expired this Friday, April 24, without a positive response from the Cuban regime, which also warned that political prisoners were not on the negotiation table.
Analysts close to the process warn that in these situations things often progress further than what is publicly stated, suggesting that real movements may be taking place away from the microphones. It is precisely in this context of growing pressure and opacity where Guilarte's advice takes on greater political significance.
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