{"id":206566,"date":"2026-03-26T07:24:32","date_gmt":"2026-03-26T07:24:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/206566\/"},"modified":"2026-03-26T07:24:32","modified_gmt":"2026-03-26T07:24:32","slug":"miamis-cuban-american-community-demonstrates-for-freedom-in-cuba-they-must-be-removed-by-force-u-s","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/206566\/","title":{"rendered":"Miami\u2019s Cuban-American community demonstrates for freedom in Cuba: \u2018They must be removed by force\u2019 | U.S."},"content":{"rendered":"

Thousands of people gathered Tuesday in a park in Hialeah, the quintessential Cuban-American neighborhood north of Miami, at a rally advocating for freedom in Cuba. While U.S. President Donald Trump appears to be precipitating a historic shift on the island<\/a>\u2014exactly what that shift will entail is unclear\u2014through an energy chokehold and dialogue with the Castro regime, several generations of Cubans, opposition members, artists and local politicians shared the stage in Florida to advocate for regime change, yes, but also to reject dialogue with the communist regime.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are very happy because we see the freedom of Cuba getting closer and closer. Thanks to this president, Donald Trump, and to [State Secretary] Marco Rubio. I have never seen it as close as it is now,\u201d says Miroslava Romero, 56, originally from Havana but a resident of the U.S. for 14 years. \u201cWe have spent our whole lives dreaming of seeing Cuba free. We came here to express our support for that, for freedom for Cuba.\u201d<\/p>\n

But she has no faith in dialogue. \u201cWe don\u2019t believe in this talk. You can\u2019t negotiate with that government in any way. They must be removed by force. I don\u2019t know if Donald Trump will decide to intervene the way they did with Maduro. We don\u2019t believe in dialogue, in conversations,\u201d she explains.<\/p>\n

President Donald Trump\u2019s repeated pronouncements that the Havana regime\u2019s days are numbered have reignited hopes within the diaspora that the long-awaited change of government on the communist island may be closer than ever. Exile opposition groups, organizations, and leaders in South Florida have mobilized, seeking to influence both the narrative and the decisions surrounding a potential transition.<\/p>\n

On Tuesday night, many wore \u201cMake America Great Again\u201d hats, as well as \u201cMake Cuba Great Again\u201d hats. The Cuban-American vote in the last election clearly favored Trump. This support was largely driven by his hardline policy toward Cuba, in addition to economic concerns. The community considers itself an important bloc within the Republican Party and, historically, has used this position to make its voice heard in the halls of power in Washington.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe purpose is to send a direct message to the highest levels of this government, to be very clear and very firm that we want a free Cuba. And a free Cuba for us means a complete change from the Castros, from [Miguel] D\u00edaz-Canel, from all the communists, to bringing democracy and freedom to Cuba. We have never been as close as we are now, but we don\u2019t want a half-measure. We want to see a complete political change,\u201d Hialeah Mayor Bryan Calvo<\/a>, who organized the event, told EL PA\u00cdS.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is a clear message to the Administration that the majority of Cuban Americans don\u2019t want negotiations with the regime. We don\u2019t want talks. We want action, not words. Cuba has to be next on the list because the Cuban people have endured 67 years of communist misery and death. It\u2019s time to act,\u201d adds Cuban-American influencer and opposition figure Alexander Otaola of the Cuban Anticommunist Foundation, another of the event organizers.<\/p>\n

Following the capture of Nicol\u00e1s Maduro<\/a> in Venezuela, the main ally and economic backer of the Cuban government, the U.S. has tightened sanctions against the island and, crucially, cut off all its oil supplies. Since then, Trump has repeatedly stated that the Cuban regime is about to fall at any moment.<\/p>\n

Last month, reports began circulating that Marco Rubio and U.S. government officials had held discreet, unofficial contacts with Ra\u00fal Guillermo Rodr\u00edguez Castro<\/a>, Ra\u00fal Castro\u2019s grandson, on the sidelines of a Caribbean summit in St. Kitts and Nevis. Rubio did not confirm any meeting. But in early March, new reports pointed to a broader U.S. effort to establish channels of communication with figures close to power on the island. And on March 13, Cuban President D\u00edaz-Canel acknowledged that talks had taken place between Havana and Washington, without providing further details.<\/p>\n

The revelations provoked immediate reactions within the diaspora. Sectors of the exile community harshly criticized any contact with members of the Castro family and the regime, arguing that this contradicts the historical stance they have maintained and promoted since the beginning of the Revolution.<\/p>\n

This is the voice that was spoken this Tuesday afternoon in Hialeah, one of the most densely populated areas of Miami-Dade County, and the epicenter of the Cuban-American community in the U.S., where approximately 75% of the population traces its origins to the island and many still have ties with and relatives in Cuba.<\/p>\n

Before the gates of Milander Park on Palm Avenue opened, nearly a hundred people had already gathered near a makeshift stand selling Cuban flags of various sizes, caps, and T-shirts. Shortly after 7:00 p.m. local time, the crowd completely filled the bleachers, and many more continued to arrive. Some posed for photos wrapped in flags next to a monument of a fist with a broken chain that adorns the park\u2019s green space, while songs by Willy Chirino and Albita Rodr\u00edguez, some of the most iconic exile artists banned on the island, or the classic \u201cGuantanamera,\u201d played in the background.<\/p>\n

Luc\u00eda Lorenzo, 76, who arrived in the U.S. 46 years ago during the Mariel boatlift and attended the event with her daughter-in-law and granddaughter, shares the same opinion as everyone else. \u201cI hope this ends once and for all, that Trump finally does something. If he doesn\u2019t do it now, he\u2019ll never do it,\u201d she says, opening her arms and letting go of her walker, which she uses to navigate the grass. When the Castros came to power, she was seven years old: \u201cAnd look where I still am. But I don\u2019t want dialogue,\u201d she adds, \u201cjust bullets flying everywhere.\u201d<\/p>\n

At the beginning of the month, the main exile organizations signed a \u201cliberation agreement\u201d that would serve as a roadmap for an eventual transition to democracy on the island. Rosa Mar\u00eda Pay\u00e1, leader of the Pasos de Cambio coalition, and Orlando Guti\u00e9rrez Boronat, of the Cuban Resistance Assembly, signed the document, which they described as \u201ca historic alliance,\u201d in a highly symbolic ceremony at the Ermita de la Caridad del Cobre, a shrine to Our Lady of Charity, a representation of the Virgin Mary that is venerated in Cuba.<\/p>\n

Pay\u00e1, daughter of the late human rights activist Oswaldo Pay\u00e1 and founder a decade ago of Cuba Decide, an initiative that calls for a plebiscite on the island, was invited by Miami Congresswoman Mar\u00eda Elvira Salazar<\/a> to the State of the Union address, to represent \u201cthe millions of Cubans who refuse to give up their right to live in freedom.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are on the threshold of change, and it is we Cubans who must lead this urgent transformation on the island,\u201d Pay\u00e1 said Tuesday in Hialeah. \u201cCubans on the island and in exile are one people, and as such, we are acting. The nights in Cuba are filled with people banging pots and pans<\/a> and shouting for freedom and the end of the dictatorship; in exile, we are equally mobilized for systemic change. Tonight in Hialeah, and the nights to come around the world, are to tell our brothers and sisters on the island that they are not alone; to tell the United States that we appreciate the pressure and want them to continue acting so that the dictators have to submit to the will of the people and leave; and to tell the world that Cubans have a plan, we are ready for change, and we hope they will side with the people, not with their oppressors.\u201d<\/p>\n

Sign up for our weekly newsletter<\/a> to get more English-language news coverage from EL PA\u00cdS USA Edition<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Thousands of people gathered Tuesday in a park in Hialeah, the quintessential Cuban-American neighborhood north of Miami, at…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":206567,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[15],"tags":[1016,409,225,227,226,8877,123,9395,4389],"class_list":["post-206566","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-hialeah","tag-cuba","tag-donald-trump","tag-hialeah","tag-hialeah-headlines","tag-hialeah-news","tag-marco-rubio","tag-miami","tag-miguel-diaz-canel","tag-nicolas-maduro"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/206566","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=206566"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/206566\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/206567"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=206566"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=206566"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=206566"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}