Cuban scholar and dissident Alina Bárbara López has accused Miguel Díaz-Canel's regime of employing the Cuban people as a "human shield" against pressures from the Trump administration. In an interview published by the Spanish newspaper El Mundo on Saturday, she described the government's militaristic strategy as "irresponsible and stupid."
Speaking from Matanzas, where she is under house arrest amid frequent power outages and with her phone line tapped by the regime since late 2022, López, a 60-year-old doctor in Philosophical Sciences and a Marxism specialist, expressed her concerns. "They are practically using the Cuban people as a kind of human shield to see if the U.S. will reconsider," she asserted, pointing out that the government is mimicking Fidel Castro's old tactic: "challenge against challenge, bravado against bravado, and they can't do that now because it's absolutely irresponsible."
López Challenges Regime's Doctrine
The dissident dismantled the "War of All the People" doctrine that the regime reactivated following Trump's statements in March 2026 about the potential use of military force. The regime has been practicing this doctrine every Saturday for months, but López warns that comparisons to the war against Batista are baseless: "A guerrilla focus would die out from hunger. What farmers will give you food if the state's policy towards the peasantry has led to the countryside being abandoned to its fate?"
She also questioned the purported 6.2 million signatures from the "My Signature for the Homeland" campaign showcased by Raúl Castro on May 1. "It's not possible to have obtained over six million signatures in Cuba when our population is around eight million," she argued, noting that between 1.5 and 2 million Cubans have left the island since 2021. "That list is impossible," she concluded.
Cuba's Dire Situation
López painted a picture of a country on the brink: "Just stand in line to see what's being said, with elderly people struggling to collect their meager pensions, for days and days because there's no connection, the banking system has collapsed, there's no electricity, or there isn't any money in the ATM." She added, "No one trusts that change can come from the government, no one."
The academic noted that some Cubans have come to prefer foreign intervention over continuing under the current government: "The fact that these people have reached the point of preferring foreign intervention over remaining under the current government shows the horror they are experiencing."
Political Transition and Legal Limbo
As for a political solution, López rejects any partial reform and advocates for a Constituent Assembly: "It's not about removing them and putting others I trust in their place. It's about dismantling institutions." She observed that Cuba fell from 51st to 91st in the human development index during Raúl Castro's years in power, wasting two historic opportunities for reform.
López, who was detained in April while attempting to protest in Matanzas's Freedom Park, described her situation as a "legal limbo." The prosecution requested four years of correctional labor without internment for her, but her trial was indefinitely suspended without explanation.
Considered alongside Rosa María Payá as one of the leading figures in Cuban dissent, López has never been a member of the Communist Party of Cuba despite working in a Marxism-Leninism teaching department. She is unequivocal about the current moment: "In Cuba, right now, the fight is not between left and right; the fight is between this dictatorship and democracy. And in democracy, everyone should fit."
Economic and Social Crisis
The situation is extremely tense: economist Pedro Monreal warns of a potential 15% drop in Cuba's GDP by 2026, comparable to the worst year of the Special Period, while Cuba records a historic high of 1,250 political prisoners according to Prisoners Defenders, many of whom participated in the historic 11J protests of 2021. Other independent organizations estimate that number to be over 750 incarcerated.
"I'm truly outraged by what I'm witnessing, because it is irresponsible and stupid...," López concluded regarding the regime's strategy against U.S. pressure.
Understanding the Crisis in Cuba
What is the "War of All the People" doctrine?
The "War of All the People" is a doctrine the Cuban regime reactivated after statements from the U.S. about potential military force. It involves mobilizing the entire population in defense of the regime, echoing tactics from the past.
Why does Alina Bárbara López criticize the Cuban government?
López criticizes the Cuban government for using the citizens as a "human shield" against the U.S. and for its irresponsible militaristic strategies. She also highlights the country's dire economic and social conditions.
What is the current economic situation in Cuba?
Cuba is facing a severe economic crisis, with predictions of a 15% decline in GDP by 2026, comparable to the worst year of the Special Period. The country also has a record number of political prisoners.