The Cuban writer and musicologist Carlos Olivares Baró, exiled in Mexico for 40 years, called for a "surgical" military intervention against the power structure in Cuba, comparable—according to his own words—to the action taken against Nicolás Maduro in Venezuela, outright dismissing any possibility of a negotiated peaceful transition.
His statements come a day after the news broke about the meeting between CIA director John Ratcliffe and the head of the Cuban G2, Ramón Romero Curbelo, which took place in Havana. Olivares describes this as "surprising," but he does not expect any concrete results from it.
"They are not going to relinquish power under any negotiation. They need to be stripped of power; they must be ousted from there," stated the writer born in Guantánamo in 1950, during an interview with Tania Costa.
Olivares was direct in stating the urgent nature of the military action that Cuba needs. "We need to attack that and that's the end of the matter. It must be done now, right now."
The writer insisted on distinguishing between an aggression against the Cuban people and one directed at the regime's structure. "It would be good for the Cuban people to understand that this possible aggression is not against the people, it is not against them, it is against the structure of power."
He acknowledged the weight of his stance, but he maintained it unequivocally. "The intervention would be very terrible, but it is necessary," he said.
In this regard, he also pointed out that the CIA is already aware of the key points of that power structure and that, therefore, a surgical action would be feasible.
Olivares described the internal situation in Cuba as a breaking point. In response to those protests over the lack of electricity and fuel, the regime reacts with police repression, something the writer pointed out with irony: “They have no oil, but they have oil for the patrol. Indeed, there is always oil for the patrol to repress.”
The writer also directed a strong critique towards the Latin American left and, in particular, towards the President of Mexico for her support of the Cuban regime: "It is completely, I would say, disgraceful that the President of Mexico supports that dictatorship. It is completely disgraceful."
He also rejected the statements made by the Cuban foreign minister Bruno Rodríguez, who claimed that Cuba is "a different democracy". "Cuba is neither democratic nor different in any way. There has been no democracy in Cuba for sixty-seven years."
The debate over a possible military intervention in Cuba has gained momentum in 2026 among various actors. Former congressman Carlos Giménez criticized those who oppose intervention, asserting that «they have never stood with the Cuban people».
The Spanish politician Rocío Monasterio called for a "humanitarian military action" on the island on May 4. The analyst Sebastián Arcos did not rule out a military operation if the regime does not relinquish power by other means, while the Democratic candidate Robin Peguero conditioned his support on extreme circumstances such as a direct aggression against the United States or bloody repression.
"People in Cuba have never been taken into account. The Cuban people have never been consulted," Olivares concluded, summarizing in one sentence his view on six and a half decades of dictatorship on the island.
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