The Cuban-American businessman and historian Omar Sixto dismissed the idea that any plan from the regime in Havana could pull the country out of the crisis and asserts that the only viable solution involves a humanitarian intervention with military components.
"Nothing from the Cuban government's plans is going to work at all. That is why a humanitarian intervention is required, but it must have a military component. Those who would lead the first wave must be the armies, and that is why the Shield of the Americas was created," Sixto stated in an interview with CiberCuba.
Sixto, born in Havana 57 years ago and a resident of Miami for three decades, points to the Shield of the Americas —the military coalition of 17 nations launched by President Donald Trump on March 7 in Doral, Florida— as the mechanism already in place for potential action. "These are moves that have been happening during this phase of silence," he stated.
The businessman accurately outlined the scenario that, in his opinion, would trigger that response: "Those governments allied with the U.S. will participate if needed. The variable is that, if it is needed, the Cuban people will likely be protesting in the streets by that time, and the police will begin to crack down."
That trigger does not seem distant to him. "Cubans will take to the streets at some point; that's something unstoppable; they are living worse than the Taínos today," he declared.
His forecast is supported by a documented reality: June 2026 saw a record of 107 street protests in Cuba, almost double the previous maximum, with Havana leading the way with 82 cases.
Sixto also outright rejects the 176 economic opening measures that the regime recently announced as its largest package of reforms in decades.
He granted an interview with El País, published on July 13, where he stated: "These are measures to buy time. For them, every day is a victory, but they will not work."
Regarding the role of the Cuban community abroad, Sixto outlined a specific task for the phase following any intervention. "One thing we will have to do as Cubans afterwards is to get permission to rent boats in Miami to bring humanitarian aid to Cuba, to the communities."
Sixto is the author of the essay The Fun is Over. The Cuban Economy: The Leap from Capitalism to Socialism (1959-1965), published under the Horizonte Cubano imprint of Columbia University.
In that book, he argues that Cuba's current failure has its roots in the decisions made between 1959 and 1965, when, in his words, Fidel Castro “did not change the rules of the game; he completely changed the game.”
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