00:05A U.S. Navy strike group arrived in the Caribbean.
00:08There's a lot of talk about a newly unsealed indictment against Raul Castro.
00:13And many, especially here in Miami, Cuban Americans are talking about this increased pressure by the White House against the
00:19Cuban regime.
00:20And we want to talk about this today with Alina Fernandez, the daughter of Fidel Castro here in Miami.
00:26Thank you so much for having us here.
00:27I would like to ask you, you said in previous interviews that you were 10 years old when you found
00:34out that Fidel Castro is your father.
00:36How was your reaction?
00:38If you could take us back to that mind of a little girl that just found out that Fidel was
00:44your father.
00:45Well, the fact is that I wasn't surprised at all because I used to visit the family or his family
00:52very often.
00:53So, as you're going to see, if we look at some pictures, I was already around that family.
00:58It wasn't a big discovery.
01:01What I discovered is that everybody knew except me.
01:04And it wasn't nice.
01:06So, you felt kind of a betrayal that they basically withheld that information from you.
01:12Did they ever give you a reason why that was the case?
01:15I mean, it's common sense.
01:17I was 10 years old, 11 years, 10 years old when I was told and I was going to change
01:22school.
01:22So, my mother really got scared that I was going to be told on the street.
01:29And it's really a miracle that it didn't happen before.
01:32Maybe it happened and it was in my mind unconsciously.
01:37You've said in previous interviews that you were closer to your uncle, RaĂșl, than to your father, Fidel.
01:43How have you been following the news of this indictment that was now unsealed by the U.S. Department of
01:49Justice?
01:49Well, the closeness with RaĂșl happened so many years ago that I learned, too, in regard to him, to be
01:58a Cuban, a woman, a mother, and an exilee.
02:01So, that's the way I react to that.
02:03I think it's part of a strategy.
02:05It's a point of great pressure over the Cuban government.
02:11That's my reaction.
02:13There is no other way.
02:14I think we all want a free Cuba.
02:17Would you like to see your uncle behind bars?
02:20He's 94 years old.
02:22He's soon turning 95.
02:24How do you feel about that?
02:26Yes, it's sad.
02:27It's sad to think about a 95-year-old person behind bars.
02:32I don't think it's going to be possible.
02:35But, again, it's part of a strategy.
02:39Talking about strategy, about objectives, many are asking one question.
02:44Will the U.S. invade Cuba?
02:46What is your gut feeling?
02:47What do you think will be the next step from?
02:50Everything in this process is being speculation.
02:54I mean, nobody was expecting that all the negotiation was going to include RaĂșl Castro's grandson and his bodyguard.
03:03I mean, we're expecting other people to be in that table that we're not.
03:09Obviously, the president doesn't account for anything.
03:13So, I assume the American government, or more exclusively, Michael Rubio, has a lot of intelligence information to be leading
03:25this strategy towards Cuba.
03:27Or I hope so.
03:28Because Cuba is not a country that you should underestimate.
03:33Do you feel that the U.S. has been underestimating Cuba, or is still underestimating Cuba?
03:39I hope not.
03:40I hope not.
03:41I think that the United States is a very well-informed nation, too.
03:47But Cuba had impunity during 67 years, including being friends with the worst American enemies.
03:57Active friends.
04:00How has the removal of NicolĂĄs Maduro in Venezuela earlier this year, in January, changed the landscape?
04:08Many were wondering, will something happen in Venezuela?
04:12The U.S. removed him in Saul, Delsi RodrĂguez.
04:15Do you remember how you reacted to that earlier this year?
04:19The Maduro affair was a total surprise for everyone.
04:23Nobody was expecting this.
04:26But to speak about the repercussions in Cuba, we have to go a little back.
04:32Cuba is a country that is being subsidized by another country for ages, almost since the beginning.
04:38So until 1989, it was the Soviet Union.
04:41And after that, it's been China, whomever they could extort a little bit, until they finally
04:48established this colony, because Venezuela was a Cuban colony, until Maduro was removed.
04:55So the removal of Maduro and the stopping of Venezuela's subsidy to Cuba is what broke this crisis that we
05:05see now.
05:07Many in Venezuela wanted to see Maduro gone, but they are wondering why Delsi RodrĂguez,
05:14who was really close to Maduro and has now a very special, you could say, relationship with the White House.
05:21Do you fear that something similar might happen to your country, that they remove the leadership,
05:27but the system basically stays in place, and there's still no real democracy for the Cuban people?
05:32We are a lot afraid of what might happen if the negotiations are not done in the right way,
05:38and still you underestimate their capacity for reaction.
05:44Actually, Cuba belongs to the army, to the regular army.
05:48The army owns, I think it's 75-80% of the general economy in Cuba.
05:55So they are not going to give up that easy.
05:58It's a bizarre phenomenon.
06:00You don't know any other country in the world that is being kidnapped by its own army.
06:05That's the case of Cuba.
06:07So the difference between what we want and what is possible is gigantic.
06:16So I don't know really.
06:17Again, I will be speculating.
06:20I don't know what's in these people's mind here regarding the future.
06:24It's really hard to speculate, to actually think what might happen.
06:28If I could ask you, what would you like to see, considering the risks that they are,
06:33but probably if there's a broad bipartisan majority of the Cuban-American community here,
06:38they want to see a change.
06:39The question is, how would this change look like?
06:41What would you like to see?
06:42What I would like to see is a total change, but I don't think it's possible.
06:48The United States want to maintain certain order in Cuba because a gigantic exodus can happen
06:54also of people trying to leave the country.
06:57So they want to have some control on it like they did in Venezuela.
07:02So I don't know what the solution is going to be.
07:06It's scary and it's hopeful at the same time.
07:09It's a bittersweet feeling that keeps us awake all night.
07:15And especially with friends and family back in Cuba that you are also in touch with,
07:21because usually for those living outside, sometimes losing the touch maybe to their country,
07:27it's easier to ask for a military intervention.
07:30There is some fear that they could be something like turning Cuba basically into a U.S. territory.
07:35We know there is Guantanamo base in Cuba.
07:38Is there a concern that you have that the U.S. would like to find their tighter grip on the
07:44island?
07:45I don't think that's the purpose.
07:47I think that we have many, many Cuban Americans that have done so well that are still feeling their passion
07:54for Cuba,
07:55that are available and have the interest of investing there and repairing that country.
08:02That country is falling apart.
08:03Everything needs to be renewed, redone, fixed.
08:08So, I don't know, but any help is welcome, you know.
08:13I'm convinced that every dictatorship gets established with a little push from the outside,
08:19but also at the moment it's going to implode.
08:22It needs a little push from the outside.
08:25Alina Fernandez, thank you so much for meeting us and for talking to us today.
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