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The activist and Cuban opponent Rosa María Payá dedicated an emotional message this Saturday to the Cuban-American community in commemoration of the 250th anniversary of the independence of the United States, a date that, according to her, holds profound significance for those who arrived in the northern country fleeing from dictatorship.
"Today, Cuban Americans celebrate the nation that welcomed them. The United States turns 250 years old. They arrived with nothing and built their lives, never forgetting those who continue the fight. Cuba will also be free. Happy Independence Day!" wrote Payá on her X account, accompanying the text with a photograph of a neoclassical building with the American flag waving under a clear blue sky.
The message captures the sentiment of generations of Cubans who found refuge in the United States from the regime and who celebrate July 4th as a symbol of their own freedom, without relinquishing the hope that one day that same freedom will reach the Island.
The phrase "they arrived with nothing and built a life" evokes more than six decades of Cuban exile on American soil. Since 1959, successive waves of migration have brought hundreds of thousands of Cubans to Miami, Tampa, and other cities.
The Tower of Freedom in Miami —known as the "Ellis Island of the South"— hosted over 500,000 refugees fleeing the regime of Fidel Castro between 1962 and 1974. The iconic building reopened in September 2025 as a museum following a 65 million dollar restoration, showcasing the so-called "Experience of Exile."
The celebration of the 250th anniversary has a special significance this year.
The president Donald Trump delivered a speech at Mount Rushmore on Friday, the eve of the date, with the message "Our achievements make us American," and this Saturday he led the official event "Salute to America 250" at the National Mall in Washington D.C., featuring over 300 military musicians, aerial flyovers, and a fireworks display with 850,000 shells from ten different locations.
The Secretary of State Marco Rubio, a Cuban-American born in Miami and the son of Cuban emigrants, also joined in the celebrations with a message that highlighted the historical significance of the date: "In 1776, a small group of patriots signed a document that challenged an empire and changed the world," he wrote.
Rubio's figure precisely embodies the arc that Payá describes: the son of those who arrived with nothing and today holds one of the highest positions in the U.S. government.
Payá's message comes at a time of intense activity for the opposition.
In March 2026, the "Cuba Liberation Agreement" was signed in Miami, a roadmap for democratic transition in three phases that was ratified in Madrid in June and formally recognized by the Florida Senate in April.
In May, he received the Alfred Moses Liberty Award from Freedom House in Washington, where he dedicated the honor to the more than 1,000 political prisoners in Cuba and condemned the death of Ernesto Brieva Sempé in prison due to severe malnutrition.
Daughter of the dissident Oswaldo Payá -founder of the Christian Liberation Movement, who died on July 22, 2012, under circumstances that his family attributes to a crime by State Security- Rosa María has turned her father's legacy into a global cause.
In June 2025, she was elected as the first Cuban opposition member of the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights, a fact that the regime responded to by labeling her as"mercenary".
At the end of his message on July 4th, Payá repeated the promise that guides all his activity: "Cuba will also be free."
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