The Cuban musicologist and essayist Carlos Olivares Baró stated in an interview with Tania Costa that the Cuban regime "will not relinquish power through any negotiation" and that "the only way for this 67-year dictatorship to lose that power is simply by taking it away from them." He said this in the context of the meeting between the CIA director and high-ranking Cuban officials held on May 14 in Havana.
Olivares, born in Guantánamo in 1950 and exiled in Mexico for approximately forty years, acknowledged that the meeting between John Ratcliffe, director of the CIA, and the head of intelligence of MININT, Ramón Romero Curbelo, "gives some hope" and is "fundamental," but he insisted that no negotiation will be sufficient to displace the military leadership from power. Nevertheless, he recognizes that he does not want to die without seeing "a free Guantánamo," something that, in his opinion, does not seem likely to happen anytime soon.
Regarding the U.S. military intervention in Cuba, which Olivares deems necessary, he clarifies that "the aggression would not be against the Cuban people, but against the dictatorship, against the leaders."
In any case, he specified that he is referring to a "surgical" action, comparable to that exercised against Nicolás Maduro in Venezuela. "We need to attack that, and the matter will be over. It has to be done now," he declared.
In the final segment of the interview with CiberCuba, Olivares moved away from political analysis to speak from the heart. "Cuba hurts me. I cry and cry with rage. It hurts me," he said, before confessing the desire that accompanies him at the age of 76.
"I would like, before I die, to walk the streets of Guantánamo and recall my childhood, to go to the sea, to see the streets where I used to run. And I can't do it, I can't do it because I am 76 years old and I don't know if I will have time to go to Guantánamo to see my Cuba where I was born."
His vision of the future is clear but without urgency. "I have the expectation of a completely free Cuba, a Cuba without those soldiers from the mountains, without that military leadership, without that GAESA that has enriched itself at the expense of the Cuban people. I would like a democratic Cuba, but I am 76 years old and I don't know if I will be able to see it."
When Tania Costa asked him if the change could come soon, Olivares was direct: "I don't think so. I believe that the process of a free Cuba will be slow; it will become a reality. I would say it will be gradual."
Despite this pessimism about the short term, the essayist expressed hope for the American political moment. "Trump's moment is crucial for Cubans. With Trump, change can be achieved, but he will leave the presidency soon," he noted, before pointing to Marco Rubio as the figure who could sustain that pressure. "Let's see if Rubio wins the elections, which would be a very interesting indicator." He clarified, however, his ideological distance. "I am not a Trump supporter; however, I am pleased and feel hopeful about the actions of his Administration."
The interview took place a day after Ratcliffe traveled to Havana to meet with the Cuban Minister of the Interior, Lázaro Álvarez Casas, and with Romero Curbelo, in an unusual high-level meeting between the two countries. At that time, Cuba was facing a severe energy crisis due to a lack of diesel and fuel oil, and Washington conditioned any progress in the dialogue on "fundamental changes" from the Cuban regime.
Olivares concluded his reflection with the same conviction with which he began: the regime will not yield peacefully, and time—both his and Cuba's—is running out.
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