Cuban Canadians call for regime change following Maduro’s arrest

Cubans in Ottawa say they’re hopeful change will come to the island nation following the U.S. capture of the Venezuelan president. CTV’s Austin Lee reports.

As uncertainty hangs over the future of Venezuelan governance, Cubans in Canada are watching and wondering what comes next for the island nation.

In Ottawa, members of the Cuban Canadians Coalition are celebrating the arrest of former Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro.

“We are very grateful to the U.S. administration for taking decisive action in regard to the bloody regime that was in power in Venezuela. We are aware that there are plans in place for a transition to democracy and liberty,” said Kirenia Carbonell Diéguez, public relations director for the Cuban Canadians Coalition.

“The community that really wants freedom for Latin America is very happy that guy, that terrorist, that criminal, that narco-terrorist has been captured by the United States of America,” said Eugenio Landeiro Reyes, who has been in Canada since 2008.

Officials say 32 Cuban military personnel were killed during the capture of Maduro over the weekend.

Cuban Foreign Minister Bruno Rodriguez said that Cubans were “prepared to give their lives” against any U.S. intervention as the country grapples with the unclear future of their biggest military and economic ally.

“The U.S. president, displaying a complete lack of understanding about Cuba and repeating the agenda of lies of Cuban-American politicians and other interest groups, blasphemes against and threatens our people,” Rodriguez said in a statement on social media platform X.

“Our valiant people, true to their history of struggle, will defend their nation against any imperialist aggression.”

The Cuban Canadians Coalition, however, is hopeful the latest developments in Venezuela will lead to a regime change in their home country.

“That regime needs to go. In Cuba, 90 per cent of the population lives in extreme poverty. Right now, if you get a meal per day, you are a very lucky person,” said Carbonell Diéguez.

Diéguez says her home is on the brink of collapse as the Cuban economy faces immense pressure.

“It is not safe to travel to Cuba. Hospitals are collapsing, the education system, they are having a hard time to put together teachers to teach the kids.”

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Donald Trump claims the U.S. now has ‘total control’ of Venezuela, running the country and helping to rebuild its oil infrastructure.

Those claims have sparked some concern from experts who have been keeping a close eye on Cuba for decades.

Since the collapse of the Soviet Union, Cuba has relied heavily on Venezuelan oil. That reliance continues today, despite a decline in oil imports from Venezuela due in part to severe economic challenges in the South American nation.

“With Venezuela going into a recession, it has been unable to provide Cuba with the oil that it needs. If that oil supply was cut off further, then Cuba would be in a disastrous situation,” said Archibald Ritter, a retired professor at Carleton University in the School of International Affairs and the Department of Economics.

Ritter first visited Cuba as a student in 1965.

Since then he has returned dozens of times, even helping to set up an economics program in the country through a partnership between Carleton University and the University of Havana between 1994 and 2001.

Ritter says if the U.S. intervenes and applies pressure on the already struggling island nation, the consequences on its population could be devastating.

“If Trump decided to just tighten the embargo and force a change by the Cuban government, then it could be dire and there is always a strong possibility of civil conflagration internally,” he said.

“I doubt if the United States would want to put boots on the ground in Cuba. The military is tough there. They, in the past, have had lots of experience. In Angola for example they proved themselves tough. How tough they are now, how well-equipped they are now, I don’t know for sure, but they would put up a tough fight.”

After years of pushing back against Cuba’s communist party, some Cubans living in Ottawa are hoping to see the current government toppled.

“The people once, in 2021, went to the streets. They were hunted back in their houses and now they are afraid. But what little is left of that dictatorship is going to be way, way less without that support from Venezuela,” said Landeiro Reyes.

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“We 100 per cent agree with the [U.S.] decision. We are expecting Marco Rubio, from Cuban parents, will think twice about how they can end communism in the region.”

The Cuban Canadian Coalition is also trying to share a message with the Canadian government.

“Stop treating the Cuban regime as a normal government. The Cuban regime is a danger for the region and its ties with the Russian, Iranian and Chinese regimes are a danger to Canadian security,” said Raimet Martinez, the president of the Cuban Canadian Coalition.

With files from the Associated Press.