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Elián González, a member of the National Assembly of People's Power and a symbol of the Cuban regime, visited Spain to participate in the XVIII State Meeting of Solidarity with Cuba, where he gave an interview to the Asturian newspaper El Comercio, in which he was unable to identify a single mistake made by the government of the Island when asked for self-criticism.
When the journalist directly asked him about the mistakes of the Cuban government, he replied: "The truth is that it would be difficult for me to tell you. I wish I knew what needs to be done to get out of this situation."
The well-known "raft boy" added that what seem to be internal policy mistakes "become errors when we are hindered" by external factors, thus shifting all responsibility for the Cuban crisis to Washington's sanctions.
González stated that "Cuba is experiencing a triple siege like never before" and described it as "slanderous" and "the lowest" to deny that the Island is subjected to the U.S. embargo, which he attributed to the shortage of fuel and the economic crisis faced by the Cuban people.
However, he avoided mentioning the 67 years of communist dictatorship, the regime's management, structural corruption, or military control of the economy as factors contributing to the country's collapse.
Regarding his own case, the one he was involved in as a child during one of the most intense diplomatic crises between Cuba and the United States, he admitted that "the Cuban exile community wanted to take my case as a trophy against Cuba" and that his father's family in Miami ended up being influenced by political factors.
He denied, however, having been used by the regime: "What he did was return me to my dad, and everything that has happened since is not because it became politicized, but because it was my will to do so."
Elián also acknowledged that Cuban emigration is a "natural phenomenon" and that in most cases it is driven by economic factors, although it "ends up becoming politicized."
Regarding a possible military intervention by Donald Trump in Cuba, González stated: "We fear an intervention because of what it could mean in terms of loss of life, but not from the standpoint of facing it. We do not fear positioning the United States as an enemy."
González's statements are consistent with his role as a propaganda figure for the regime. In October 2025, he blamed the United States for Cuba's problems during the Ninth Continental Meeting of Solidarity with Cuba in Mexico, where he also asserted that the government "does not make major mistakes."
In May of this year, he came to Raúl Castro's defense following the criminal charges filed by the U.S. Department of Justice regarding the downing of the Brothers to the Rescue planes in 1996, describing the accusation as a "falsehood" and stating that his initial reaction was "one of mockery."
Elián works as an assistant director at AT Comercial Varadero, a company subordinate to the military-business conglomerate GAESA, and was elected as a deputy for the municipality of Cárdenas (Matanzas) in March 2023.
The visit to Gijón, Asturias, which runs until this Sunday, includes a lecture alongside Fidel Castro Smirnov, grandson of Fidel Castro, titled "The Cuba to Come: Memory, Future of Peace and Revolution," as well as the presentation of a collective book in commemoration of the centenary of the dictator's birth.
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