Ariel Hidalgo, Former Political Prisoner, Says Cuba's Fate Lies in Its Own Hands, Not Washington's

Ariel Hidalgo, a former political prisoner and co-founder of the Cuban Committee for Human Rights, firmly stated that the resolution of Cuba's crisis will not come from Washington. In an interview with Tania Costa for CiberCuba, he urged the Cuban people to take control of their own destiny.

"I don't see any genuine interest in the plight of Cubans from either the Cuban government or the U.S. Administration. That's why I don't expect anything from either of them. Neither Biden nor Trump will solve Cuba's problems," declared the dissident. He emphatically added, "We are the ones who need to solve this issue."

Hidalgo dismissed the likelihood of any U.S. military intervention similar to the capture of Nicolás Maduro. "I don't believe there will even be a surgical intervention like the one with Maduro. I don't think anything like that will happen. These are two entirely different situations," he explained.

The apprehension of Maduro on January 3, 2026, sparked a wave of hope among Cubans. "Since January 4, after Maduro was removed from Venezuela, there has been a sense of hope among Cubans on the island. In fact, everyone who writes to you from the island asks when the Americans are coming," Hidalgo recounted.

This anticipation was further fueled by comments from Mike Hammer, the head of the U.S. Embassy mission in Havana, who declared in Europe that 2026 would be a historic year for Cuba. Tania Costa quoted him: "Mike Hammer said in an interview here in Europe that this would be a historic year for Cuba, the year of change."

However, Hidalgo remains skeptical about a quick external solution. When asked by the interviewer, "Do we have time to organize civil society in the face of genocide?" Hidalgo responded candidly, "No, unfortunately, we won't... we won't achieve a quick solution. Even if there is a change in the Cuban leadership."

This skepticism exists amid confirmed negotiations between Washington and Havana. In July, Prime Minister Manuel Marrero acknowledged that a negotiating team is working with the U.S. under the endorsement of Raúl Castro and Díaz-Canel, while Trump has conditioned any agreement on Díaz-Canel's departure from power.

Despite the challenges, Hidalgo emphasized that Cubans must push forward. "The government has tried to prevent contact between different protest groups. Despite that, we must forge ahead," he urged.

Hidalgo is a historic figure in Cuban dissidence. In 1981, he was sentenced to eight years in prison for his manuscript "Cuba, the Marxist State and the New Class," which exposed the emergence of a new privileged bureaucratic class within the communist system; his works were ordered to be destroyed "by fire." He was released in 1988 following an international campaign and emigrated to the United States.

His comments come as he leads a complaint signed by 300 Cubans from 19 countries—Cuba being the second country with the most signatures after the U.S.—submitted to the UN, Amnesty International, and Human Rights Watch. The complaint warns of a silent genocide with estimates of at least a thousand deaths due to malnutrition, lack of medicine, epidemics, and repression.

"The country where the most signatures were collected was Cuba. This shows that fear is dissipating in Cuba," Hidalgo stated, highlighting the only avenue he trusts: the mobilization of the Cuban people themselves.