Fidel Castro’s anti-Communist daughter hopes the US will bring about regime change in Cuba
As It Happened10:21Fidel Castro’s anti-Communist daughter hopes the US will bring about regime change in Cuba
While Thousands of Cubans were marching in the streets to oppose the US impeachment of their former president Raúl Castro, a true daughter of the revolution sings a different song.
Alina Fernández, a longtime anti-communist activist living in exile in Miami, is the niece of Raúl Castro, and the daughter of the late Cuban president Fidel Castro.
Earlier this month, the United States indicted Raúl Castro, 94, for shooting down two civilian planes 30 years ago, when he was defense minister.
This action left Cubans wondering whether US President Donald Trump will make good on his threats to use the military to take Castro by force, as he did with Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro in January.
After the capture of Maduro, Trump ordered the blocking of the power to block the export of fuel to Cuba, which resulted in electricity shortages, food shortages and economic collapse.
During a Cabinet meeting on Wednesday, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said that Cuba is “run by a bunch of communists who can’t function properly.”
“We want the best for the Cuban people, and I hope that there will be a good result for them. There must be,” he said. “Having a failed state 90 miles from our shores is a threat to the national security of the United States.”
Fernandez agrees. Here is part of his interview with As It Happened hosted by Nil Kӧksal.
Alina Fernández, do you believe the US Secretary of State when he says that the US will do the best for the Cuban people?
I agree. We have to wait until presidential number 14 [since the Cuban Revolution] to have someone involved in solving the situation on the ground in Cuba, or at least help to find a solution. And that person is Marco Rubio. I agree with what he said.
In your best case scenario, how can the US help the Cuban people?
Pushing to the limit to engage in conversations. And then we have a lot of very good Cuban Americans, rich professionals who are willing to go back and invest in Cuba. Everything in Cuba has to be redone … from the building to the plumbing. It is a world that is falling apart.
Many, as you know, point to what the US has already been doing, putting pressure on Cuba – you know, water shortages, millions of Cubans experiencing problems related to oil, and the needs there. We spoke to the Cuban people on our broadcast as well. They blame the US
Roger that. That is history, and that is a very strong opinion. That is the legend of Cuba [it’s] Little David facing Goliath. And it is very different from the truth.
Cuba has been involved in or involved in every civil war ever in South America, Central America, and even the Middle East, since the beginning.
So there’s a lot about Cuba that people don’t really know.
You fled Cuba, and you were in your 30s at the time. He has lived in Miami ever since, and has been back several times. What has changed for you? When did you realize you wanted to talk and criticize your family?
I spoke the first time I was given the opportunity. This time, it was a Spanish journalist.
I felt uncomfortable in the wrong place for many, many years. And at that moment when I was able to escape, my goal was to get my daughter out of there. That happened during the 90s and it was called Special Timeand conditions … were completely similar to the ones we see today, because the Soviet Union stopped its aid.
Did you last go back?
I went back for the last time in ’22, for a few days.
And what was that like?
Bittersweet, as usual. You know, it’s the country you love the most. It’s a place you feel. But you can’t stay there.
In Havana on Wednesday, citizens condemned the US indictment of former Cuban leader Raúl Castro, who was charged in a 1996 incident in which Cuban jets shot down two planes carrying exiles, killing four. ‘At that time, they had self-defense and their right to protect their airspace,’ said Rosemery Pena, legal counsel for the self-employed workers.
US Attorney General Todd Blanche … insists that Raúl Castro will face justice in the United States. When was the last time you talked to him?
Many years ago, even before I left, because, as I was talking about the unhappiness in that country … I was not talking so much about myself, but about the environment around me. And that is one of the tragedies of Cuba. You become an enemy if you oppose. And I lost all those relationships with my family since then.
Would you support his capture by the US Forces?
He is a person who will be 95 years old soon, and it will be painful, and I don’t think it is possible. But that’s it now. He is there [responsible] for a crime committed 30 years ago. But I think it’s more of a pressure point than the real thing.
If … the talks that are going on between the US and Cuba continue to fall apart and the US is going to take military action, what do you do about that?
I have heard many, many times that that will never happen. That’s what I’d like to believe.
But, at the same time, to negotiate, you need two [parties]. And right now, the Cuban side seems to be sticking to its goals and not showing any will to negotiate, which is absurd because really, common sense tells you that this situation that has lasted for a long time cannot be sustained.
No one wants to. Everyone wants a better life, a better life for their children, a future. That is not what you would expect in Cuba under this strong and strict regime.
We’ve seen the US take military action elsewhere … and the outcome hasn’t been very good for the people in those countries. Do you think the United States knows what it is getting into if it takes military action?
Anything I can say out of my ignorance will be speculation, to tell you the truth, and I don’t want to confuse anyone. I have no idea who is really in charge at this point [Cuba]. I know they are soldiers. One of the ironies in history is that the country is ruled and controlled by the military. But who knows what can happen there.
[Cuban] Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Josefina Vidal-Ferreiro did an interview on PBS this week and was asked specifically about US Secretary of State Marco Rubio. Here is what he said.
“Secretary of State Marco Rubio doesn’t know Cuba. He’s never been to Cuba. He doesn’t understand Cuba. He doesn’t seem to know Cuba’s history. So the message he’s sending, which is a clear message the United States wants to say [to] The Cuban people what kind of political system or model or organization we should have, it clearly shows that they do not even know how proud we are of our independence and our determination to defend it. “
What would you say to the minister?
It is very easy for him to defend the status quo that keeps other people miserable.
