A traitor to his people is one who defends those who enslave them

"Whoever sees their community in disarray and anguish, with no visible door to well-being and honor, either seeks that door, or is not a man, or is not an honorable man… He who accepts a situation of villainy is complicit."

These words from José Martí resonate with a haunting relevance as we contemplate the Cuban tragedy. When a people suffer oppression, repression, misery, hunger, and an ongoing exodus, the duty of those who love their homeland is not to resign themselves, but to seek a way to rescue it from agony.

The best solution to save, liberate, and rebuild Cuba would be for Cubans, both on the island and abroad, to unite our forces and achieve, through nonviolent civic action, a great national mobilization and a general strike capable of breaking the mechanisms of domination and paving the way for the end of the dictatorship and a serious process of democratization.

That is the path I consider preferable, but we must be realistic. Most Cubans desire change, well-being, and freedom, but decades of brutal repression have instilled a deep fear. The majority still fears detentions, beatings, physical and psychological torture, disproportionate sentences, and the terrible prison conditions: hunger, malnutrition, diseases (tuberculosis, scabies, parasitism...), bedbugs, insects, rodents, unsanitary conditions, lack of medical attention, etc.

The helplessness instilled in the minds of our compatriots leads many to believe that their own strength will never be enough to free Cuba. Many of us have left the country, and unfortunately, once outside, the majority do not actively engage in the struggle or assist those who continue to face repression within Cuba. This makes it much more challenging to achieve the large national mobilization we need. It is not impossible, but a great deal of work remains to be done.

A second option would be to combat the regime militarily, just as our mambises fought against Spanish colonialism. However, today that possibility seems even less viable. We are faced with an unarmed population against a state that maintains a monopoly on weapons, controls its military and police forces, has had and continues to have the support of authoritarian powers like Russia and China, and possesses enormous mechanisms for surveillance and repression. An armed uprising could trigger a civil war with unpredictable consequences.

Furthermore, the United States has opposed for decades the organization of military expeditions by Cubans against the communist regime from its territory. Its own laws prohibit the organization of certain armed expeditions against other states. Those who attempt to prepare such an undertaking from U.S. territory would be subject to intervention by federal authorities.

It then presents a third possibility: a surgical military action by the United States aimed at essential structures of the military and repressive apparatus of the regime. Those of us who see this option as necessary and positive cannot claim that it would be free of risks. Removing a cancer carries risks, and liberating a nation does as well. But this Great Nation is the only surgeon capable of ensuring that the operation is successful and affects only the disease, not the victim who suffers from it.

Those in power, very fearful of the possibility of ending up like Nicolás Maduro  or Ali Khamenei, are launching campaigns with the intention of warding off the danger and are calling anyone who, in light of their people's suffering and the closure of other options, finds it necessary to seek help from abroad a "traitor," just as the mambises did at the time.

Our own history shows that seeking international support is not synonymous with betraying Cuba. On the contrary. Carlos Manuel de Céspedes sent representatives to the United States to seek recognition and moral and material assistance for the independence cause. The Revolutionary Committee of Camagüey, in which Ignacio Agramonte was involved, also sought recognition of belligerency and external aid. Máximo Gómez appealed to the United States in light of the drama Cuba was enduring during the Reconcentration of Weyler, and when the Spanish-American War broke out, Cuban forces cooperated with the American forces against Spain. Calixto García participated in that military cooperation, although he later protested vigorously when Cubans were unjustly excluded from entry and decisions related to Santiago de Cuba.

The patriots of today would once again protest vigorously against any option that does not ensure full freedom, rights, and sovereignty for Cuba and all Cubans.

Antonio Maceo proudly defended the capacity of Cubans to achieve independence through their own efforts. He did not see American military intervention as necessary. However, rejecting intervention was one thing, while rejecting all forms of assistance was quite another. Maceo understood perfectly the importance of obtaining weapons and ammunition and sought American cooperation to ensure those resources could reach the Cuban fighters.

Martí, deeply concerned about preserving Cuba's future sovereignty, understood that no revolution could turn its back on the world. He even wrote about the necessity to "deserve, seek, and obtain" the sympathy of the North, because without it, independence would be very difficult to achieve and maintain.

In the Foundations of the Cuban Revolutionary Party, the necessity of discreetly maintaining relations with friendly nations was established in order to facilitate the triumph of the revolution and the founding of the Republic with minimal bloodshed and sacrifices.

In other words, independence did not mean isolation. Sovereignty did not mean renouncing solidarity, recognition, resources, or external cooperation. Furthermore, the democratization of Cuba today is not only of interest to Cubans. For decades, the Cuban regime has played an active and aggressive role in Latin America, supporting ideologically aligned governments, movements, and organizations. Its relationships with Venezuela and Nicaragua, among other countries, demonstrate that the Cuban issue has a regional dimension.

The United States also has a legitimate interest in having a stable, democratic, sovereign, and human rights-respecting Cuba just a few miles from its shores; an independent Cuba that can maintain friendly and cooperative relations with its northern neighbor. Today, the Castro regime has close alliances with the main enemies of the United States and of freedom around the world.

Today, as information circulates about U.S. military planning related to various contingencies in the Caribbean region, the Cuban regime is intensifying training, military exercises, and a discourse of supposed defense of the "homeland." Defending Cuba is one thing; defending the Castro-communist tyranny is something very different.

The homeland is not a party, it is not the Castro family. Cuba is all of us.

No one has the right to accuse those who seek the most effective way to lift Cuba out of its agony, to save thousands of elderly, children, and entire families, of being traitors. Saving Cuba is the imperative for every good Cuban.

Martí was very clear: in the face of villainy, conforming is to become complicit.

Seeking help for a community to reclaim its rights and live with dignity and well-being is not betrayal. Betraying a community is to defend those who enslave it and subject it to criminal oppression and extreme misery.