MIAMI-DADE COUNTY, Fla. — Members of Miami-Dade’s Cuban exile community say their calls for political change in Cuba remain unchanged following comments from Cuban President Miguel Díaz-Canel about potential talks with the United States.
Across generations, Cuban Americans told Local 10 News they want to see the communist party removed from power and democracy restored on the island.
“The only way there is going to be real change in Cuba and respect for the principal of private property is if there is political change in Cuba,” said Orlando Gutiérrez-Boronat of the Assembly of the Cuban Resistance.
Many exiles say Díaz-Canel confirming that Cuba is in talks with the U.S. does not change their long-standing push for a free Cuba.
“I want my country to be free,” said Ana Dezayas, a Cuban-American exile who left the island decades ago. “I was born in Cuba. I left in 1969.”
Younger Cuban Americans echoed similar frustrations. Waldo Toyos, a 24-year-old fourth-generation Cuban American, questioned any assistance to the Cuban government.
“Do I support America helping the Cuban government in any capacity? No. Why would I?” Toyos said. “My grandfather asked me to never go back there.”
Some also pushed back against Díaz-Canel’s remarks about being open to doing business with Cubans living abroad.
“I just feel it is ridiculous to have the concept of, ‘It’s all good now.’ No, that is not what our grandfathers fought for,” Toyos added.
Gutiérrez-Boronat said many exiles believe there can be no collaboration with the Cuban government while the current political system remains in place.
“We are not going to collaborate with the regime. We are not going to go back to Cuba with our resources, with our help, with our aid as long as there is a dictatorship there,” he said.
He added that real political change is needed before many exiles would consider returning.
“There has to be real change so that there are no longer any reasons for Cubans to be exiled,” Gutiérrez-Boronat said.
Others say even if democracy were restored, their lives are now rooted in the United States.
“My kids and my grandkids were born here. I go back maybe to visit, but not to continue my life there,” Dezayas said.
Toyos said the history between his family and the Cuban government still weighs heavily on him.
“What the Cuban government and the current government has done to my family, I would never — I would never return back to Cuba,” he said.
Despite their differing views on returning, those interviewed said they continue to advocate for freedom and democracy for the Cuban people living on the island.
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