The Cuban-American historian Germán Miret responded in an interview with Tania Costa, in CiberCuba, to one of the most persistent questions from the exile and the Cuban opposition: Is it possible to unite for change without sharing exactly the same ideas?
The debate arose from a message sent by a viewer, identified as Frank, who proposed that what is needed is not "unity of thought" but "unity of action against the dictatorship."
Miret, 86 years old, responded with nuances to that proposal. "I agree to some extent, but the unity of idea is what brings together a unity of purpose," said the researcher. "If we don't share the same idea, we cannot unite."
To support his argument, Miret referred to the example of José Martí, who in the 19th century managed to unite very diverse forces under one banner. "Martí succeeded in bringing everyone together. He had one idea, the freedom of Cuba; he always preached the freedom of Cuba. We cannot aspire to overthrow the regime if we are not united in the idea," he stated.
At the end of the interview, Miret clarified his initial position and offered a conciliatory synthesis that brought his stance closer to Frank's: "We don't all have to think the same, but we should be clear that what we all want now, what we should all want, is change, and to change, we need to stand together."
Martí founded the Cuban Revolutionary Party in 1892 precisely as an instrument of unity, believing that without cohesion among the revolutionary forces, sacrifices would be in vain.
In that same interview, Miret introduced a historical reference about Cuban youth and their sympathy for the Spanish Republic during the Civil War, noting that "most of the youth at that time were pro-Spanish Republic" and that Cuba welcomed the exiled Republicans.
From there, he quoted the well-known aphorism—popularly attributed to Churchill, although there is no evidence for this—that those who are not communists when they are young "lack a heart," and those who remain communists when they are old "lack reason."
The debate about the atomization of the Cuban exile and opposition is not new, but it is particularly relevant at this moment. In May 2026, analysts described this fragmentation as one of the structural problems that undermines the ability to challenge the regime. Former political prisoner José Daniel Ferrer, who has been exiled in Miami since October 2025, has claimed that the internal opposition in Cuba has been "practically dismantled" following the protests of July 11, 2021.
The immediate backdrop of the conversation with Miret is the first public interview of Raúl Guillermo Rodríguez Castro, known as "El Cangrejo" and the grandson of Raúl Castro, who defended a supposed new economic model with 176 measures without renouncing the political system, generating widespread skepticism among Cubans both on and off the island.
In that context, opposition sectors in Madrid confirmed a plan for democratic transition with four phases: liberation, stabilization, reconstruction, and democratization.
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