Yunior García Praises Amelia Calzadilla for Connecting with Everyday Cubans

Cuban playwright and activist Yunior García Aguilera expressed his support for Amelia Calzadilla and the newly formed Cuban Orthodox Liberal Party (PLOC) in an opinion piece published on Saturday in 14ymedio. He praised Calzadilla for achieving the challenging task of connecting with ordinary Cubans, who are weary of power outages, shortages, injustices, lies, and fear.

García's article, titled "Praise of Boldness," appeared in his column "Cuba and the Night" following Calzadilla's announcement on April 26 from Madrid about the establishment of the PLOC. This centrist liberal party is inspired by Martí's ideas and free-market principles, with the slogan "A New Path for Cuba. With Principles. With Freedom. With You."

The Challenge of New Leadership

García begins his column with a pointed remark: "One of the most common practices among Cubans is public shaming. I'm not referring to honest, necessary, or even harsh criticism. I'm talking about the emotional machinery that targets anyone who dares to step forward."

Exiled in Spain since November 2021 after the thwarted Civic March for Change on November 15, García argues that not all hostility towards new leaderships stems from the regime. Some of it originates "from within us, from our wounds, our frustration, from the anthropological damage caused by decades of living under a system that rewards obedience and punishes initiative."

"It's unfair to demand perfection from each new opponent when the dictatorial machinery itself prevented us from developing it," García writes, adding, "We expect one person to shoulder the burdens of an entire nation." According to the playwright, "perfect leaderships only exist in hindsight. They are suspicious constructions of time."

A Divisive Announcement

The announcement of the PLOC sparked a polarized reaction. Calzadilla received massive support from Cubans both on and off the island, with membership requests and proposals for her presidential candidacy. Conversely, the official program Con Filo mocked the new party on April 29, to which Calzadilla responded on Facebook, interpreting it as a sign of the PLOC's impact.

On April 30, amid a discrediting campaign she attributes to the regime, Calzadilla released a video warning State Security agents: "Remember, you too have children, you have parents, and the government has abandoned you." This response from Calzadilla highlighted the pressure she faces from her Madrid exile.

From Viral Video to Political Action

Calzadilla was not initially an opposition figure. She gained recognition in June 2022 after a viral video where she denounced the gas shortages in her Havana neighborhood of Cerro, affecting 11,000 people and 58 families for years. In the video, she directly challenged regime leaders: "How long will the people continue to pay for your comforts?" Following harassment and repression, she exiled to Madrid in 2025.

García dedicates a special note to political commitment in exile: "Willpower in exile is no small feat. Exile wears you down. It disrupts life. It forces you to start anew." He concludes that "when a young woman, mother, and exile decides not just to denounce but also to attempt to build a political platform, at the very least, she deserves our respect."

Challenging the Regime's Monopoly

The creation of the PLOC holds significant symbolic weight: Article 5 of the 2019 Cuban Constitution enshrines the Communist Party as the sole political force, making Calzadilla's announcement a direct challenge to the regime's monopoly. García concludes his column with a thought-provoking reflection for those seeking change on the Island: "Perhaps the answer doesn't lie in finding the perfect leader, but in allowing many imperfect leaders to emerge, compete, collaborate, fail, learn, and try again."