The Cuban artist and theater director Selene Perdomo, residing in Barcelona, expressed this Saturday the frustration felt by the Cuban community in exile regarding the perception that Cuba has been sidelined from Washington's agenda: "We have the feeling that it is not our turn now. We feel that we have been left for later."
Perdomo made the statement during a live interview with Tania Costa, recorded on this July 4th, when the United States celebrates the 250th anniversary of its independence, a date that many Cubans in exile hoped would bring news of political change on the island.
According to the artist, the conflict with Iran was the factor that disrupted plans: “Iran came into play, and we are now on standby. It seems that Trump has lost interest.” Perdomo acknowledged that she doesn't know if the situation resembles what happened in Venezuela, where U.S. pressure was “at a standstill” for months, and warned that maintaining military deployment in the Caribbean has a real cost: “Deploying ships and military personnel in the Caribbean doesn't come cheap; it costs money.”
The theater director pointed out that the Cuban regime views the situation with relief, because the American political calendar plays in its favor: "These people are happy because, of course, elections are in November, and Trump will have to deal with an impeachment here and accusations there." She went further by projecting the worst-case scenario: "If the Democrats gain more power, we’ll be stuck there for another 67 years."
Perdomo confessed that he had concrete hopes for this day: "I thought that on July 4 we would all be together. I thought I would be able to stand tall in the speech and say: look, I have freed Cuba." However, Trump did not mention Cuba in his speech for the 250th anniversary, although he reaffirmed his anti-communist stance.
On that same day, Miguel Díaz-Canel gave an interview to the Puerto Rican weekly Claridad in which, in response to the protests by Cubans against power outages, he stated a phrase that summarizes his position: “Let the neighbors to the north know by banging pots and pans”, blaming the United States for all the country's ills.
Perdomo acknowledged that he speaks "from visceral emotions and personal desires," but he also called for moderation in the face of those demanding immediate results from Washington: "I think asking all that work from the United States as if they had an obligation is asking for too much." He recalled that since January 3, 2025, "everything has accelerated" and that the current, slower phase is due to the necessity of making "very difficult and very concrete decisions."
One of the fears she articulated most clearly was that of a cosmetic change without real transformation, both in Cuba and Venezuela: "There are fears that the same will happen, that you simply replace one with another." The artist emphasized that what is happening in Caracas —with figures like Diosdado Cabello still in power— directly affects the prospects for change in Havana, and vice versa.
Perdomo's analysis reflects a widespread sentiment among the Cuban exile community: the feeling of being on the brink of a historic change and once again being left in limbo. As she herself summarized, the question hanging over the Cuban community this July 4th is whether negotiation and transition will occur before the political will of those who could drive it diminishes.
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