MIAMI.- The executive ordersthe Trump administration’s national security memos and State Department goals represent a bold and necessary turn toward dismantling Cuba’s communist dictatorship. This is not a mere posture, but a strategic necessity based on decades of evidence showing that détente policies only prolong tyranny. Socialism, as the renowned Hungarian economist stated emphatically János Kornaiis irreformable: attempts to “reform” socialism inevitably fail due to their inherent contradictions.
Cuba’s chronic crises—rampant poverty, scarcity, and repression—are not accidents, but deliberate results of a politically induced system plagued by ethical and moral decay. The regime’s so-called “reforms” are superficial patches, designed to attract foreign investment while maintaining tight control. The most recent projects of MYPIMES (Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises) are kleptocratic attempts to transform Cuba into a Putin-style oligarchic dictatorship. The United States must reject these meager concessions outright. Only large-scale regime change can eradicate the root causes and restore prosperity to the Cuban people.
True sovereignty in a democratic framework means popular sovereignty, which has been denied to Cubans since Fidel Castro’s ideological coup in 1959. In essence, genuine sovereignty in a democratic context means the will of the people, freely expressed. Since the communist takeover, Cubans have been stripped of this right and live under a regime that rules through fear and coercion, rather than consent. The dictatorship’s strident accusations of “violations of sovereignty” by the United States are cynical inventions that ignore that the true sovereigns—the Cuban nation—have been voiceless for generations. Washington should boldly ignore these false accusations and act to empower the people, consistent with America’s core values of freedom and self-determination. To do otherwise is to perpetuate a myth that only benefits the oppressors.
To dismantle this regime, the Trump-era Justice Department must bring the full force of the law to bear. Reactivate the 1993 accusation against Raúl Castro for orchestrating drug trafficking networks that funneled cocaine through Cuba, earning millions in illicit profits. Equally important is pursuing charges for the cold-blooded 1996 shootdown of Brothers to the Rescuewhich murdered three U.S. citizens and one U.S. resident in international airspace, a blatant act of state-sponsored terrorism. Expand these accusations to other regime elites, supported by eyewitness testimony from Colombian drug traffickers such as Carlos Lehder, who detailed personal meetings with Raúl Castro to coordinate smuggling routes. Jhon Jairo Velásquez (“Popeye”) also revealed Cuba’s deep involvement in the operations of the Medellín Cartel. These are not accusations, but corroborated facts that demand accountability, striking at the criminal heart of the regime and deterring its enablers.
The Cuban Freedom and Democratic Solidarity Law (LIBERTAD) of 1996 (also known as Helms-Burton Law) provides a solid legal basis for regime change, focusing on the Cuban Revolution’s egregious theft of American property, valued at between $6 billion and $8 billion, making it the largest expropriation of its kind in history. By fully activating Title III, the United States can sue entities that benefit from stolen assets, crippling foreign complicity and isolating Havana. This is not aggression, it is justice, rectifying a historical error that financed the survival of the regime and emphasizing that revolutions based on looting cannot last.
For more than six decades, Cuban communism has been a breeding ground for Marxist terrorism, harboring, training and arming insurgents from one end of Latin America to the other. No country in the Western Hemisphere has been left unscathed by the communist subversion orchestrated by Castroism. This support endures today, with Havana supporting narcoterrorist groups and subversive elements throughout the hemisphere. It is alarming that many radical left-wing organizations in the United States serve as covert fronts for Cuban and Chinese influence, spreading propaganda and promoting subversion. Empirical evidence from declassified documents and defector testimonies reveals a pattern of exported violence that has claimed thousands of lives, demanding a strong U.S. response to neutralize this threat.
Cuba functions as a colossal spy post, which poses an existential risk to American security. Trump was right to highlight the Lourdes signals intelligence facility, Russia’s largest abroad, now expanded with Chinese spy bases and North Korean collaborations, which allow the interception of US communications and military secrets. Cuban agents like Ana Belen Montes and Víctor Manuel Rocha, who betrayed US intelligence for decades and provided key false information that diverted US policy (these are just two examples) and caused irreparable damage. These infiltrations into key US institutions highlight the regime’s astute pragmatism, successful from a dictatorial standpoint, yet failing miserably by democratic standards of popular sovereignty, human rights, and material well-being.
To cut off the regime’s livelihood, a comprehensive quarantine or total blockade must be imposed, cutting off the flow of resources while mitigating the suffering of the civilian population through humanitarian aid distributed through impartial channels such as the Catholic Church. All remittances, whether in cash or in kind, must be stopped immediately, along with travel, Obama-Biden era business licenses, investment plans and any mechanism that channels funds to Havana. These incomes, which add up to billions a year, support the dictatorship without benefiting ordinary Cubans. Furthermore, the Department of Justice should deploy its legal arsenal against GAESAthe military conglomerate that dominates the Cuban economy, acting against its offshore entities in Panama and elsewhere under laws similar to RICO against organized crime. Prosecute front organizations that pose as legitimate companies and hold complicit nations accountable, dismantling the regime’s global financial network.
Ultimately, the totalitarian nature of Castro-communism, far more pervasive than mere authoritarianism, demands nothing less than regime change. Its strategic format throughout America, including insidious influence operations in the United States, amplifies the dangers to national security: espionage, sponsorship of terrorism, and drug empires have cost American lives and undermined stability. Half measures have failed. Appeasement invites escalation. By carrying out these actions, the United States safeguards its interests and defends the freedom of 11 million Cubans and all of Latin America. Regime change is not optional, it is the moral and strategic imperative of our time, guaranteeing a hemisphere free of communist shadows.
