The Cuban-American businessman Iván Herrera posted a message on Facebook calling for unity and respect among Cubans, regardless of political differences, and pointed out the dictatorship as the only true enemy of the nation.
Herrera made a direct appeal to his fellow countrymen: "Freedom is defended with respect. Among Cubans, we can debate, disagree, and have different thoughts, but we must not forget that the goal is greater than any difference: to see a free Cuba."
The message directly addresses the divisions that fracture the Cuban diaspora on social media, where debates about travel to the island, sanctions, and opposition leadership have sparked increasingly heated confrontations among compatriots.
"Stop the fights, identify our enemy properly," Herrera said in the recording. "It's not the Cuban on your side, it's not the Cuban who comes here to fight and struggle. It's the dictatorship over there. That's all."
Herrera was emphatic in pointing out that the regime, and not other Cubans, is the root of the conflict: "It is that dictatorship that divides us, that has sown hatred among us. Gentlemen, let that go already, it will come to an end."
The businessman, founder and CEO of Univista Insurance —one of the fastest-growing insurance companies in Florida, with over 220 offices and 3,000 employees— is an increasingly visible figure in the anti-Castro activism of the exile community.
Born in Alquízar, Artemisa, in 1973, Herrera arrived in the United States as a balsero at the age of 23 and built a benchmark company in the Cuban-American community of Miami from scratch.
In March 2026, Herrera traveled to Washington to meet with Republican congressmen and officials from the State Department to demand tougher measures against the Cuban regime.
On that same trip, he publicly challenged Miguel Díaz-Canel to a debate and demanded that he resign and leave Cuba, in addition to warning that "there will not be a single cent of investment" from American businessmen in the island as long as there is no freedom.
The call for mutual respect comes at a time of increasing polarization within the diaspora, which analysts describe as a collection of numerous and competitive groups without unified leadership, fueling disputes over influence and political narrative on social media.
Filed under: