MIAMI.– The Cuban opposition Jose Daniel Ferrer He is in favor of the United States carrying out an operation in his country like the one that overthrew Venezuelan dictator Nicolás Maduro in January, if the island’s communist government does not agree to give up power, as he told AFP.
“Cubans continue to die in prisons and on the streets from hunger, and they continue in power oppressing and repressing the majority of the population,” said the dissident.
“Therefore, if we have to applaud a Venezuelan-style action, I am going to do it, like many Cubans, with great pleasure,” he stated.
Ferrer, exiled in Miami since October, welcomes the current talks between the head of US diplomacy and the government in Havana, announced by President Donald Trump himself.
According to him, Washington is only trying to give the Cuban authorities opportunities to carry out a transition towards democracy without having to resort to “stronger actions.”
The historic leader of the Patriotic Union of Cuba, who spent more than 13 years in prison, is not opposed to Cuba taking a path similar to the one Venezuela followed after the military operation that removed Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores, from the country.
There, Vice President Delcy Rodríguez, a figure of Chavismo and ally of Maduro, assumed interim power and complied with Washington’s most urgent requests – among them the end of the sale of oil to Cuba -, in what the Trump government presents as a first stage towards a democratic transition.
“If it is necessary for Cuba to act in the Venezuelan style and a kind of Delcy Rodríguez appears, and the political prisoners are released immediately and the repression ends, I would agree,” he says. “But there would have to be a guarantee that these are necessary steps to hold free and plural elections.”
Cuba in crisis
Regarding the future of Cuba, Ferrer believes that “the regime will not last more than five or six months” and applauds the pressure measures exerted by Washington, including the energy blockade that has made fuel scarce.
Consider, however, that these initiatives must be accompanied by aid, with food, medicine and products for daily use, for the Cubans most in need in this critical phase.
The opponent dreams of being able to hold free elections in Cuba soon, but affirms that the process “is not going to be easy after so many years under dictatorship, without freedom or democracy.”
One of the aspects that worries him the most is the lack of coordination and disagreements within the opposition, although he hopes that, once the communist government ends, everyone will be able to work together.
“I’m quite optimistic, but I know that you have to work very hard so that optimism ends up becoming a reality, not just a fanciful dream,” he says.
Necessary changes in Cuba
The president’s administration donald trump warned this Wednesday cuban regime that it must address “drastic changes very soon” and that they are awaiting what decisions they make in the near future in the face of the serious economic crisis that the island is facing.
“It is a regime that is falling. The country is collapsing and we believe it is in its interest to make very drastic changes very soon.“White House spokesperson Karoline Leavitt said at a press conference.
