Lech Wałesa’s Advice to Cubans in Crisis
“You should take advantage of Trump, but he will not bring you freedom”
The former Polish president warns that the US leader is heading in the right direction, but is looking after his country’s interests, not those of Cubans.
HAVANA TIMES — Former Polish president Lech Wałęsa, Nobel Peace Prize laureate, suggested this Thursday that Cubans in Florida should “take advantage” of US President Donald Trump to achieve change on the island, but warned that he “will not bring them freedom.”
“You need to take advantage of Trump because he is moving in the right direction but remember that he is moving in the direction of US interests, not Cuban interests. So you need to be prepared for all of this to converge,” Wałęsa replied to a question from EFE.
The 1983 Nobel Peace Prize recipient compared Cuba’s current struggle with the one he led to end the communist regime in 1989, recalling that his movement “took advantage” of having a Polish pope, John Paul II, and therefore Cubans should “take advantage” of Trump.
“You have a similar situation. Trump is there, but the question is how to take advantage of the fact that he is president, because he will not bring you freedom. You have to take advantage of Trump so that you can win your freedom,” he said.
The Cuban Diaspora Museum, the Cuban Resistance Assembly, and other exile organizations recognized Wałęsa as the first “Ambassador of Freedom for Cuba,” considering that “the fall of the regime” is closer than ever due to Trump’s policies and those of Secretary of State Marco Rubio, who is of Cuban origin.
Washington has increased pressure on Havana following the intervention in Venezuela that led to the capture of Nicolas Maduro on January 3, the cutoff of Venezuelan crude oil supplies to the island, and the declaration of a “national emergency” to sanction countries that supply petroleum to Cuba.
Wałęsa, who in 1990 became the first democratically elected president of Poland since 1926 and has inspired Cubans through his struggle against communism, told exiles that they “have the opportunity for a quick victory, but that is when the problems will begin,” because they run the risk of civil war.
“So I wish you freedom and, truly, I am asking you — let me take part in your victory parade in Cuba. Hurry up,” expressed the 82-year-old former president.
The Pole also revealed that he had a conversation last week with Venezuelan opposition leader María Corina Machado. “She gave her Nobel Prize to Trump too quickly and too easily,” he said he told the opposition figure.
“Of course, we will stay in contact and I will take part in the struggle for the freedom of her country (Venezuela), your country (Cuba), and other countries. What I have seen is that Machado has a fighting spirit,” he added.
First published in Spanish by 14ymedio and translated and posted in English by Havana Times.