During statements to the press offered at The Biltmore Hotel in Coral Gables, he considered that Havana’s recent announcement on supposed economic reforms responds more to a strategy to alleviate internal pressure than to an authentic opening process.
“For me the solution is the same: the government has to change,” he said.
He also compared the country’s situation with that of other scenarios that, as he explained, face similar political dynamics, such as Venezuela and Iran.
“If you don’t change the regime, we are going to repeat this every three, four or five years,” he warned. “As long as those power structures remain intact, any attempt at reform ends up being temporary or simply a strategy to buy time.”
Investment warning
During the exchange with the journalists present, he also referred to the call from the government leadership to attract foreign capital in the midst of the island’s complex economic situation and asked for caution from those considering investing.
“I am asking all Cubans and those considering investing in Cuba not to put in a cent before there is a political change,” he said.
As he explained, the dictatorship tries to project an image of economic openness without offering real legal guarantees for those who risk capital.
“How many times are we going to fall into that trap?” he questioned. “They promise that the property will be yours, that they will respect the agreements, and then everything ends up under the control of the same system.”
Washington did not participate in the announcement
During the conference he also rejected versions that suggest that the White House administration would be involved in the economic measures recently announced by the government.
He claimed to have maintained communications with the Secretary of State, Marco Rubio, who he said confirmed that Washington has not promoted or supported that announcement.
“They did this on their own. The United States government had nothing to do with that announcement,” he said.
In his opinion, the Castro authorities try to present these measures as the result of a supposed process of international dialogue to generate expectations both inside and outside the country.
“They want to make it seem like this is part of talks with the United States, but that is completely false.”
Criticism of international pronouncements
During the exchange with the press he was also consulted about statements by the Swedish climate activist Greta Thunberg, linked to a humanitarian flotilla announced for March 21 bound for Cuba.
He downplayed these opinions and questioned the role of some international figures who, in his opinion, comment on the Cuban reality without fully understanding the political dimension of the problem.
“I don’t care at all what Greta Thunberg says. I’ve never cared what she says,” he responded.
From their perspective, those proposals that are presented as humanitarian actions can end up being used by the ruling power to project an image of legitimacy to the world.
He also criticized the recent statements of the former president of Mexico, Andrés Manuel López Obrador, who has expressed his intention to provide economic support to the Cuban government.
“It’s the same ideology,” he said. “That’s why Mexico tries to help Cuba in any way. They don’t care that they have destroyed the country or that they are oppressing its people.”
This type of international support, he added, contributes to prolonging the permanence of the Cuban political system.
“They cannot admit that the ideology is wrong.”
First a political transformation
He insisted that any serious recovery process must begin with changes in the political system.
“We need political change before we have economic change,” he stressed.
Trying to negotiate reforms with the current government would only serve, he added, to prolong the country’s deterioration.
“You can’t negotiate with these people. What they want is to survive and stay in power.”
The statements come in a context of growing tension within Cuba, where in recent weeks protests have been reported in several locations amid prolonged blackouts, food shortages and a sustained deterioration in living conditions.
Message to the Cubans
At the end of his speech, he sent a message to the citizens who have taken to the streets in different parts of the country and expressed his support for those who demand changes within the island.
“There are many Cubans in the streets showing that they are not satisfied with what is happening,” he stated.
“Let them continue asking for freedom and pushing the regime. It is time for Cuba to enter a new political stage.”
