Cuba needs a good team to win the "Copa Libertad."

On December 3, 2025, Real Madrid faced Athletic Bilbao. The second goal of the match begins to take shape with a steal by Federico Valverde and ends with a cross from Trent Alexander-Arnold, a headed assist by Kylian Mbappé, and the final header by Eduardo Camavinga. The team connects 15 passes in 41 seconds, involving 9 players. This is what teamwork looks like. And when you fight this way, victory follows.

The World Cup being held today in North America also provides a powerful metaphor for understanding one of the greatest challenges of the Cuban cause for freedom.

The team that ultimately lifts the trophy will not necessarily be the one with the most stars or the one that has the top scorer of the tournament. Above all, it will be a team that has managed to prepare, train, understand each other, coordinate, and play as an effective unit.

A championship team has forwards who know when to make runs, midfielders who understand when to speed up or hold the ball, defenders who cover the spaces, and a goalkeeper who trusts those in front of him. Each player knows their role, honors the position where they can contribute the most, and understands that collective success is more valuable than individual glory.

No team can win a World Cup if its members only meet on match day or the day of the press conference. It's not enough for each player to train separately, no matter how much talent they have, how much they desire victory, or how hard they work individually. If they do not train together, if they do not know each other, if they do not coordinate attacks and defenses, if they do not learn to support one another, and if there is no respected technical direction, defeat will be almost inevitable.

This happens with peoples who fight for their freedom. Cuba needs patriotic leadership that is united, committed, selfless, capable, intelligent, and wise. It needs an opposition that does not limit itself to agreeing on statements, tributes, conferences, or photographs. It requires a structure that works continuously, is well-known, coordinates efforts, distributes responsibilities, and can transform the sacrifices of thousands of Cubans into an organized and victorious force.

The history of the Ten Years' War illustrates how costly a lack of unity and discipline can be.
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The war initiated by Carlos Manuel de Céspedes on October 10, 1868, was one of the greatest epics in our history. Cuba rose against Spanish colonialism, proclaimed independence, created a Republic in Arms, and produced a generation of extraordinary patriots. However, that war concluded in 1878 with the Pact of Zanjón, without having achieved its fundamental goal.

Spain had greater military power, more resources, more weapons, and an experienced colonial administration. However, the Cuban failure cannot be explained solely by the enemy's superiority. Internal divisions also played a profound role, including rivalries between regions, differences between military leaders and civilian leaders, disputes over authority and strategy, and the inability to maintain good coordination between fighters on the island and patriotic groups in exile. The ousting of Carlos Manuel de Céspedes in 1873, in the midst of the war, was a dramatic sign of that lack of cohesion.

There was also a lack of stable resources. The Cuban emigration made significant sacrifices to raise funds, purchase weapons, and organize expeditions. However, the lack of unity among factions, groups, and leaders weakened the ability to support the fighters within Cuba. A war cannot be sustained solely by courage. It requires weapons, food, medicine, communications, discipline, intelligence, logistics, and leadership that can transform limited resources into effective strength.

José Martí understood that lesson better than anyone. That is why, before restarting the war of independence in 1895, he dedicated years to building the Cuban Revolutionary Party. He knew that differences among Cubans were inevitable, but he also understood that they could not afford the luxury of turning those differences into disunity, rivalry, and defeat once again.

Today's Cuban opposition faces a similar challenge, albeit in a different context.

There are men and women of immense courage both inside and outside of Cuba: political prisoners, activists, independent journalists, religious leaders, artists, human rights defenders, and leaders of a patriotic exile deeply committed to the cause of freedom. Many have endured imprisonment, torture, beatings, surveillance, threats, defamation campaigns, forced exile, and separation from their families. However, individual heroism, no matter how great, cannot replace the need for organization.

The freedom of Cuba cannot depend on groups that only meet occasionally, when there is an international event, when a public statement is being prepared, or when an opportunity for visibility arises. Nor can it depend on individuals who act independently, compete for the spotlight, or raise separate projects without strategic coordination.

A great forward cannot win a World Cup alone. A great defender cannot either. Not even an extraordinary goalkeeper can indefinitely save a team that does not play to win. Victory requires a common strategy, training, and discipline. It needs each person to do what they are best prepared for.

The struggles of other peoples confirm this truth. Solidarity in Poland brought together workers, intellectuals, Catholics, students, and activists from various movements. It was not a movement without disagreements, but it managed to build organization, representation, and discipline. Lech Wałęsa was elected leader of the union, and the organization became a national social force capable of resisting communist persecution, negotiating, and paving the way for the elections of 1989 and the exit from the totalitarian regime.

The African National Congress in South Africa was not without its internal tensions. It brought together different generations, political currents, and social sectors opposed to apartheid. Nevertheless, it managed to maintain a national structure, elect leadership, and uphold a common cause. Nelson Mandela was elected president of the ANC in 1991, and that organization entered into crucial negotiations with legitimacy, discipline, and representation recognized by broad sectors of South African society.

The National Congress of India was also a significant patriotic coalition. There coexisted moderates, radicals, religious, secular, reformists, trade unionists, and advocates of various strategies. Gandhi, Nehru, and other leaders did not always think alike. However, the movement had congresses, debates, internal elections, and collective decisions. At the Lahore session in 1929, presided over by Jawaharlal Nehru, the Congress adopted complete independence as the central objective of the Indian struggle.

The lesson is simple: unity does not mean that everyone thinks alike. It means that, despite having differences, everyone accepts rules, respects democratic decisions, and places the common cause above personal ambition.