The researcher and Cuban political prisoner Rolando Cartaya, spokesperson for the Cuban Conflict Observatory (OCC) of the Foundation for Human Rights in Cuba, stated that more and more Cubans are hoping that the United States will help them rid themselves of the regime, in comments collected during an interview with journalist Tania Costa for CiberCuba.
"The perception we have is increasingly that Cubans hope the United States will help them free themselves from this regime. We see it in the graffiti, we see it in expressions on the street, people shouting for intervention," Cartaya noted.
As a concrete example, the researcher recounted the case of a young man on Paseo Street in Havana who addressed President Trump directly.
"Look, Trump, stop the reconnaissance flights, you park the aircraft carrier right there on the coast and come straight down Paseo... If they come with the B-2s, I'll go up to the roof of my house and signal you with a laser. But also, if they get lost, there are plenty of people who will be very happy to help them and tell them where they are," he pointed out.
Cartaya emphasized that this is not an isolated case: "This is just one case; we have many in the report that demonstrate that people are hopeful that there can be, in some way... that I believe there will indeed be a change, and that people are waiting for that change—this is real."
This popular sentiment has quantitative backing. An independent survey published on May 8 with 42,263 valid responses revealed that 60.9% of respondents support a direct military intervention by the United States in Cuba, and 64.9% favor overthrowing the government "by any means necessary, including armed struggle."
The regime itself received a strong response when the official program "Con Filo" asked on social media, "Who wants an invasion against Cuba?": it gathered over 2,364 comments, mostly in favor of regime change.
Cartaya also addressed the uncertainty surrounding the negotiations between Washington and Havana, following the exchange between Congresswoman María Elvira Salazar and Secretary of State Marco Rubio in the House of Representatives, where Rubio stated that there are technocrats in Cuba ready for a transition.
"That has filled us with everything, it has given us more uncertainty than we already have, because we don't know what is being discussed in the negotiations, we don't know what was talked about with the director of the CIA, we don't know what was discussed in Guantánamo," stated the researcher.
Regarding the possibility of a diplomatic solution, Cartaya pointed out that recent U.S. sanctions complicate that scenario. On June 4, Washington sanctioned Alejandro Castro Espín and his son Raúl Alejandro Castro Calis in the third round of measures under Executive Order 14404.
"The people remaining under sanctions would already be unable to engage in that dialogue. Not Díaz-Canel, not Castro, not the eldest son, not the grandson, no," Cartaya concluded.
This Wednesday, the Cuban envoy in Washington stated that, despite three face-to-face meetings, there had been "no progress" in the negotiations, against a backdrop where the OCC recorded 1,311 protests in May 2026, a figure close to the historic record of 1,333 in December 2025.
Filed under: