With no food, electricity or medical care, Cubans are ‘asking God to help, and bring us Donald Trump’
Pedro Quiala Carmenate says he is not religious, but he is praying for President Donald Trump to help liberate Cuba.
“There’s no food, there’s no electricity, and there’s no medical care,” he said from his neighborhood in Old Havana on Monday, speaking on his cell phone during one of the island’s frequent blackouts.
The 34-year-old pro-democracy activist struggles with power outages, rising crime, no trash collection, and soaring inflation. He can barely provide enough food for his children. Because of the scarcity, he has kept his six- and fifteen-year-old children home from school, noting that teachers themselves often no longer show up at government-run schools.
“I am not a religious person, but I pray to God for Donald Trump. He is our only hope for freedom,” he said.
Earlier this year, the U.S. military captured Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro in a special operation, which cut off Cuba’s main oil supplier and gave hope to dissidents opposing the Communist government led by President Miguel Díaz-Canel.
Activist José Daniel Ferrer said he received dozens of messages from fellow Cubans on January 3, the day Maduro was captured. “I must have gotten 60 messages asking when the U.S. military would come to Cuba to remove Díaz-Canel,” said Ferrer, 55, founder of the Patriotic Union of Cuba, who has been repeatedly imprisoned and tortured for his activism.
“The majority of Cubans want the Americans to intervene because they are living through the worst period of the 67-year dictatorship,” Ferrer said.
Blackouts and shortages have been common in Cuba since Fidel Castro came to power in 1959, but hardships have intensified in recent years, driving a mass exodus of over 800,000 people annually for the past four years—roughly 25% of the population—leaving fewer than eight million on the island, according to The Guardian. Monthly wages for professionals are extremely low, with doctors earning around $19, according to The New Humanitarian.
Quiala Carmenate described current shortages of fuel, food, and medicine as worse than during the so-called “Special Period” after the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991.
Ferrer, now living in exile in Miami with his family since last October, said torture and repression against opponents have increased, with more than 1,000 political prisoners currently held. “It’s the most repressive period we’ve ever faced,” he said, recounting brutal beatings, isolation, and torture during his own imprisonment.
At a Shield of the Americas summit in Florida over the weekend, President Trump promised intervention. “As we achieve a historic transformation in Venezuela, we’re also looking forward to the great change that will soon be coming to Cuba,” he said. “They have no money. They have no oil. They have a bad philosophy. They have a bad regime that’s been bad for a long time.”
Quiala Carmenate, who suffers from cystic fibrosis, said he cannot access medications or adequate care at city clinics, which cater primarily to military and government officials. “The rest of us have to put up with facilities full of flies, rats, and cockroaches, with no medicine and often no doctors,” he said. He relies on friends and family in Miami to send money and medications to survive.
He said the government sells fuel it receives for free to fund its administration and also sells medicine and food in U.S.-dollar-only stores, which are inaccessible to most Cubans.
Ranses Mones Quintero, 32, a member of the 30th of November Revolutionary Movement, also advocates for overthrowing the government. A few years ago, he lost his job as a mascot for a local baseball team after refusing to act as a government informant. “They just got rid of me because I refused to be a snitch,” he said. Mones Quintero keeps his six-year-old son home from school, citing hunger and hardship. “It’s hard for a father to see his child go hungry, but this is our situation. We need Trump’s help,” he said.
While some Cubans seek intervention, others point to the longstanding U.S. economic embargo, in place since October 1960 and tightened during the start of the second Trump administration in January 2025, as a source of the country’s poverty. Maria Romeu, a Cuban-American working with superyachts in Havana, described days with up to 13 hours without electricity and said garbage collection is so poor that the army has been called in to pick up refuse. “Few Cubans would welcome regime change or a U.S.-led government,” she said.
In Havana, residents took to the streets during a blackout on Saturday, banging pots and chanting “Down with Communism!” and “Freedom!” according to Marti Noticias.
“If the United States works for the liberty of the Cuban people, the liberty of political prisoners, and comes up with a solution for the government of Cuba, they will ensure the security of the whole region,” Ferrer said.
About Post Author
