Diego Suárez, a Cuban exile businessman who will turn 100 in November, agrees in an interview with journalist Tania Costa that Miami is funding the Cuban dictatorship through remittances, and revealed that the exile community is actively working with allies in Washington to put an end to this support for the dictatorship.
The question arose from a thesis put forth by Rubén Cortés, a journalist based in Mexico and former director of the newspaper La Razón in that country, who argues that "Miami is the source of income, the only one left to Castroism today." Suárez supports this argument: "Without a doubt, and that's a struggle we have with the exiled Cubans themselves."
The historic co-founder of the Cuban American National Foundation went further and revealed the contours of a coordinated strategy: "We are also working with Washington to finally cut off remittances to Cuba. They talk about the blockade; I believe they are going to face a total blockade now because that is what is being worked on with our allies in Washington."
Suárez also stated that the maximum pressure has the backing of political support at the highest level. "Both our congressmen and Marco Rubio, as well as President Trump, are committed, and they have not only said it, they have offered it. Without a doubt, I am absolutely sure that those new sanctions will come."
The announcement comes in a context where formal remittances to Cuba have already dropped by 70% compared to 2019, when the island received more than 2.055 billion dollars, largely as a result of the indefinite suspension of Western Union from the United States to Cuba in February 2025.
In response to the objection that the cut in remittances could "starve" relatives remaining on the island, Suárez rejected the premise. "No, not at all. On the contrary, it's precisely to prevent them from continuing to go hungry and enduring the hardships they are facing."
The businessman described a phased strategy that he compares to a 30-day period. "We Cubans will send the last remittances to our relatives in Cuba, and by the time they use those remittances, Cuba will already be free."
He illustrated it with a direct metaphor: "Imagine that I send you some money so you can live off it for 30 days, and I tell you: I won't send you any more money... but after 30 days, I can send you as much as you want because you will be free by then."
The economic background that lends weight to his words is the control exercised by GAESA over foreign currencies in Cuba, the military conglomerate that handles 95% of foreign currency transactions on the island, which means that a significant portion of every remittance sent from Miami ends up in the hands of the Castro regime.
In the same excerpt, Suárez categorically rejected any formula of annexation, free associated state, or conversion of Cuba into the "51st state" of the United States, reaffirming his defense of a sovereign Cuba. "Under no circumstances... We do not want the American eagle to flourish in Cuba."
At that point, he evoked the republic of 1902 as a model to be revived. “We were among the three most developed countries in Latin America: Argentina, Uruguay, and Cuba.”
Impulsor also of Radio and Television Martí, along with Jorge Mas Canosa, Suárez is closely acquainted with the key points of the plan that Mas Canosa left to the Cubans for the democratic transition, and concluded with a statement that summarizes his conviction: "I have never felt the freedom of Cuba as close as I do in these moments."
Filed under: