MIAMI, United States.- Former political prisoner José Daniel Ferrer, founder and leader of the Patriotic Union of Cuba (UNPACU), defended a United States operation similar to the one carried out in Venezuela last January to “remove from power” the ruler Miguel Díaz-Canel and the colonel Alejandro Castro Espínson of Raúl Castro Ruz, if the Cuban Government does not accept a negotiated solution towards a transition.
In interviews with EFE and AFPthe opponent maintained that both “are responsible for many crimes and even many deaths” and stated that, if “the Cuban drama continues to worsen,” he would support an exit of force, although he reiterated that his preference continues to be a negotiated outcome.
“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,” Ferrer told AFP. “Therefore, if we have to applaud a Venezuelan-style action, I am going to do it, like many Cubans, with great pleasure,” he stated.
In the exchange with EFE, when asked about who could assume a role comparable to that of Delcy Rodriguez In Venezuela, Ferrer said that on social networks there is speculation about Ana María Mari Machado, vice president of the National Assembly of People’s Power. He described her as a “figure less hated perhaps by the people” compared to leaders whom, in his words, “they really can’t stand”: “those faces that they constantly see on television, whether Miguel Díaz-Canel, Raúl Castro (…) or the prime minister [Manuel] “Marrero Cruz.”
Despite contemplating this scenario, Ferrer insisted that he prefers a solution through dialogue. “I have always been a defender of Cubans achieving freedom and democracy with our own efforts,” he said. However, he added: “If the regime does not give rise to another option (…), what is needed is action.”
In his arguments about why he sees a change possible, Ferrer maintained that in Cuba there is growing discontent and more open protests. “I would start with a Cuban people that is increasingly dissatisfied and rebellious, with less and less fear,” he stated, and mentioned an “awakening of youth.”
The opposition leader also linked the panorama with the regional impact of the operation in Venezuela and with the US strategy of “maximum pressure against tyranny”, including the threat of tariffs on those who help the Cuban Government, especially with fuel.
“The allies of the regime [China, Rusia] They are distancing themselves because they know that this very bad company does not suit them,” and added: “Russia itself does not suit them in the midst of the crisis they already have with their war against Ukraine; [el presidente Luiz Inácio] Lula da Silva, in Brazil, we see him as quite discreet.”
In the interview with AFP, Ferrer said he welcomed the talks between the head of US diplomacy and the Havana government announced by Donald Trump, interpreting them as an attempt to give Cuban authorities opportunities to promote a transition without resorting to “stronger actions.”
Ferrer told AFP that he would accept a “Venezuelan-style” scenario if it involved immediate and verifiable measures within Cuba. “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 said. But he warned: “There would have to be a guarantee that these are necessary steps to hold free and plural elections,” according to AFP.
As for what Washington should do next, Ferrer said Trump must “continue to pressure” and enforce “tariffs on whoever sends oil to the regime so that repression keeps moving and there is no shortage of fuel in the cars of the repressive forces.”
He also stated that the Cuban Government is supported by fuel reserves stored “in the mountains of Oriente”, from where – as he said – “they continue to extract from a very long and deep cave, with many fuel deposits.”
In his short-term diagnosis, Ferrer considered that “the regime will not last more than five or six months.” “I am 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 said.
Ferrer arrived in Miami last October as a political refugee following an agreement between the Governments of Cuba, the United States and the Vatican.
