Luis Zúñiga supports a U.S. military intervention in Cuba "if necessary"

February 2, 2026

From Miami, some veterans of the Cuban exile have openly backed Washington's hard line against Havana. Luis Zúñiga, member of the Assembly of Cuban Resistance, declared to the EFE agency that, in addition to economic and political pressure, "if a surgical operation were necessary to remove the oppressors… blessed be it". Although few exiles speak publicly for fear of retaliation against their families on the Island, Zúñiga reflects a sentiment in Miami that applauds the action taken in Venezuela and would see a similar intervention in Cuba justified after "years of misery and oppression" under Castroism. He even argues that there exists a "right to interfere" in Cuba due to the regime's abuses, arguing that just as the dictatorship was established with Soviet help, other powers would have the right to help liberate the Island. These statements come amid growing pressure from the Trump administration, which has already returned Cuba to the list of terrorism sponsors and appointed Marco Rubio (an anti-Cuban hawk) as Secretary of State, decisions seen in Miami as a signal of hardening policy toward Havana. Other exiles interviewed predict that the collapse of the Cuban regime could occur soon, although they acknowledge that internal repression still contains dissidence on the Island.