The Cuban writer José Manuel Fernández Pequeño posed a question that encapsulates decades of political history on the Island: is there a single significant leader of the Cuban regime who has publicly opposed the power from within over the course of nearly 70 years?
His reflection, made in an interview for CiberCuba, was striking: "Do you know of a single important leader of the Cuban government in almost 70 years who has publicly turned against it? It's true, there has been no dissent. No, no... I don't know of any at all."
When a viewer mentioned General Arnaldo Ochoa as a possible exception, Fernández Pequeño dismissed it immediately.
For the writer, Ochoa was a military man, not a politician, and he never displayed an open political opposition to the regime.
"Ochoa, I understand him as a victim, one of the many sacrifices of the many who were sacrificed throughout Fidel Castro's entire history," he pointed out, referring to the general executed on July 13, 1989, after being accused of drug trafficking and treason.
"I believe that Ochoa was sacrificed at a moment that became very difficult for them, and he was sacrificed, as simple as that, just like many others were sacrificed," he clarified.
The writer also referred to figures such as Carlos Lage and Felipe Pérez Roque, who were simultaneously dismissed in March 2009 by Raúl Castro. Both submitted resignation letters admitting to "errors" and reaffirming their loyalty to the revolution, with neither putting up the slightest public resistance.
The image that Fernández Pequeño uses to describe these former leaders is striking: "Those who are not here today walk the streets and are alive, wandering the streets of Havana with a small bag in hand, walking like poor devils."
This pattern—the silent fall, without rebellion or denunciation—is precisely what Fernández Pequeño identifies as one of the most defining traits of the Cuban political control system.
The intellectual, author of more than 20 books and now based in Miami after 18 years in the Dominican Republic, also expressed skepticism about an imminent transition on the Island.
He pointed out that since 1960-61, Cubans in exile have been saying that the regime is "just a matter of months," without it collapsing, although he acknowledged a difference with the current moment: "Now there is, let's say, an advantage, right? And that is the advantage that Fidel Castro is no longer alive."
However, when asked if this time the change could be permanent, Fernández Pequeño did not hide his uncertainty: "I honestly don't know what to tell you."
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