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The Cuban intellectual and activist Alina Bárbara López Hernández published a reflective piece on Facebook titled «Until the Last Man and the Last Cent?», in which she rigorously and thoughtfully analyzes the situation of Cuba, caught between two forces that, in her view, do not prioritize the well-being of the Cuban people.
"This island and its people find themselves caught between an incompetent government that couldn't care less about its citizens and an American politician who also has no regard for international law," writes López Hernández in a text that arises in the context of the threats by Donald Trump to send the aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln to Cuban shores and his declaration that he will "take Cuba almost immediately" after concluding operations in Iran.
The author does not shy away from expressing her discomfort with the words of the U.S. president: "It bothers me to hear Donald Trump saying that he will take Cuba and do whatever he wants with it, because for me, and for many compatriots, Cuba is not just about its bad government, but so much more."
But his most extensive criticism also targets the regime.
López Hernández describes the responses from the Cuban government as "lamentable and erratic," and he lists them: Díaz-Canel claimed that what "bothers" the Yankees is the decision to resist; the Foreign Minister Bruno Rodríguez Parrilla stated that Cuba would be "a deadly trap if U.S. imperialism dared to attack us"; the Vice President of the Union of Journalists of Cuba mocked the nuclear aircraft carrier; and the Civil Defense aired a family guide on television with advice "in the event of a possible war scenario in Cuba."
"They are either reckless or irresponsible; or both," states the intellectual about those reactions.
López Hernández warns that the confrontational strategy inherited from Fidel Castro, "although it was never wise, is suicidal today," given the state the country is in: "We are a nation in ruins, filled with hungry and impoverished people long before Trump and his aircraft carriers."
In response to the warlike rhetoric of the regime, the author proposes a concrete and intelligent solution: that the government announce a general amnesty law for all political prisoners.
"Do not offer Trump the key to entry; undermine the significance of his threats. Show an intelligent gesture that also meets the aspirations of a citizenry that needs and demands change," he writes.
López Hernández points out that this decision would simultaneously be an act of justice, a response to popular demands, and a measure that aligns with points raised by Secretary of State Marco Rubio.
It is also worth mentioning that last Monday marked one year since the death of Zoila Chávez, a political prisoner who died in Manto Negro prison in Pinar del Río while she pleaded to see her imprisoned son, as a symbol of the urgency of that amnesty.
The intellectual, who has been holding peaceful protests every 18th of the month since March 2023 in the Parque de la Libertad in Matanzas demanding amnesty and a constituent assembly, and who was detained in April while attempting to carry out her monthly protest, poses a question to the regime that encapsulates her central argument: “Are you really planning to lead this starving people into a destructive war to negotiate your exit from power without conceding anything, claiming that you remained faithful to an ideal until the end when you know perfectly well that you yourself have betrayed that ideal in every way?”
The essay concludes with a quote from José Martí: "Neither should politics be an art of maneuvering, patchwork, and trades, nor is one worthy of the trust of their country who cares more about appearing favorable to their adversaries—for their own security and glory as a cunning man—than about attempting and achieving all the improvements they believe beneficial to their people."
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