Miguel Díaz-Canel publicly defended the negotiations between Cuba and the United States on Monday, in which the central figure has been Raúl Guillermo Rodríguez Castro, known as "The Crab," the grandson of Raúl Castro, without holding any formal institutional position.
He did so in an interview with RT en Español, without mentioning the individual by name, but with words that serve as an implicit justification of his already notable role in discussions led by the Secretary of State of the Trump administration, the Cuban-American Marco Rubio.
The ruler stated that the dialogue with Washington is conducted by "us" with "the participation of the Army General, his historical experience and leadership in all these types of issues, along with a group of other comrades from the party leadership."
The reference to the "Army General" points to the 94-year-old elder, who remains the real arbiter of the regime's strategic decisions.
The statement comes two weeks after El Cangrejo gave an exclusive interview to USA Today, in which he positioned himself as a key interlocutor with Washington and offered to negotiate directly with Trump.
"I can negotiate with anyone designated by the U.S. If given the opportunity, of course with Trump," stated the colonel from the Ministry of the Interior (MININT), who does not belong to the Political Bureau nor holds any elected position.
The words of El Cangrejo sparked a wave of indignation that reached the government itself. The musician Israel Rojas from Buena Fe, broke ranks and questioned his role with a succinct, "Let them defend themselves."
The journalist Ana Teresa Badía and the playwright Irán Capote also raised their voices. Even the mother of Díaz-Canel's press chief asked publicly: “Could someone bring this boy down to earth? Could someone tell him to be quiet?”
The Prime Minister Manuel Marrero Cruz attempted to contain the damage on July 10 by stating that the negotiating team has the endorsement of Díaz-Canel and Raúl Castro. Now it is the very leader appointed by Castro who reiterates this argument, adding the assurance of "a monolithic unity" at the top.
The statement is difficult to uphold. In January of this year, Díaz-Canel himself admitted before the Communist Party the "lack of real unity" in its ranks, also acknowledging bureaucratism and inertia.
The contradiction between both statements, separated by just six months, illustrates the nature of dictatorial power: opacity as a tool of control and the Castro family as a parallel structure to the formal State.
Indications of a direct channel between the two are not limited to a single account. Axios reported in February, citing sources from the Trump administration, that Rubio was still in talks with Raúl's grandson and that the exchanges had been “surprisingly cordial”, focused not on disputes about the past but on “the future.”
Although the State Department did not officially confirm a personal conversation between the two, it also did not deny the contacts and declined to comment, while Donald Trump publicly asserted that Washington was in talks with individuals at “the highest levels in Cuba.”
Together, these elements point to a sustained communication between El Cangrejo and Rubio's immediate surroundings, with journalistic accounts even attributing a direct involvement to the Secretary of State.
It is also revealing what Díaz-Canel admitted in April: that he has not spoken directly with Marco Rubio nor does he know him in person, while El Cangrejo had already interviewed his team in February in Saint Kitts. The regime's "straw man" thus defends his own marginalization in the most important negotiations of contemporary Cuba.
In response to questions about internal fractures, Díaz-Canel chose an authoritarian closure: he categorized the doubts as "speculations," "diversionary actions," and "manipulative actions," and warned that the regime will not stop to give explanations. "To avoid falling into the purposes they have with these actions," he justified.
The episode confirms who truly holds power in Cuba: not the ruler who appears in interviews, but the "Army General" whose "historical experience" Díaz-Canel invokes to legitimize decisions that he himself does not control.
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