Yúnior García Aguilera has lived in Spain for five years. The Cuban regime threatened him with 27 years in prison.Image: Imago
Yúnior García Aguilar has experienced first-hand how far the regime will go to silence its critics. He is certain that if the government does not change its course immediately, the island is at risk of collapse.
March 1, 2026, 7:54 p.mMarch 1, 2026, 7:54 p.m
“In Cuba you live from day to day,” says Yúnior García Aguilar. The actor and activist grew up on the island. The country has been in a deep economic, social and political crisis for years. Observers speak of the most serious threat to the government since the revolution of 1959. García is convinced: “If there is no change in the next three years, the country can no longer be saved.”
In everyday life, power outages are particularly a problem. “No electricity, for example, also means that you can’t keep food or medicine in the fridge,” said the Cuban living in Spain in an interview with CH Media.
The situation has worsened since Trump cut off access to foreign oil. This after he had Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro arrested. The South American country has long been Cuba’s most important source of oil.
At the end of June, Trump threatened tariffs against countries that sell or supply oil to Cuba. The president cited connections to Russia, China and terrorist groups as well as political repression as the reason. The government in Havana then declared, among other things, that foreign airlines could no longer be supplied with fuel. The first airlines are therefore no longer flying to Cuba.
Cuba has been in a deep economic, social and political crisis for years.Image: Imago
The economic situation is one of the main reasons for dissatisfaction in the country. However, the government is resolutely fighting any resistance. The last time there were mass protests was in 2021. Yúnior García Aguilar also ran and organized nationwide demonstrations a few weeks later. However, he ultimately had to cancel due to threats. “The public prosecutor’s office in Havana summoned me and told me that they would sentence me to 27 years in prison for treason and that they were not ruling out the death penalty,” he says. It was said that he was a CIA agent.
The next day when he wanted to go out on the street alone with a white rose, his apartment was surrounded. He, his wife and his mother-in-law, who lived with him, were not allowed out of the apartment all day – a message. “My life in Cuba was over – they made me feel that,” says García. That day he decided to leave the country.
Almost 1,200 political prisoners
Today, five years later, not much has changed in terms of the oppression by the Cuban regime. But people are still protesting. “Some are put in prison, others locked up at home, like they did to me. For others, the internet is cut off so that they cannot communicate with the outside world,” says García.
According to the NGO “Prison Defenders”, the government held almost 1,200 political prisoners at the end of 2025. Recently, two young men were arrested for having a YouTube channel that the communist government deemed critical. “I believe that now that the regime is in talks with the USA, more people will be arrested again in order to release them as bargaining chips,” said García.
During the current negotiations between the United States and Cuba, García is placing his hopes primarily in Trump’s Secretary of State Marco Rubio. «His parents are from Cuba. I think he has a genuine interest in the island,” he says.
Fear that everything will stay the same
Apparently the US government is currently looking for an equivalent to Delcy Rodríguez from Venezuela. The former vice president under Nicolás Maduro is currently working with the Americans as the new president.
A gas station in Havana. Gasoline is a rare commodity in Cuba.Image: imago
On Wednesday, Rubio said Cuba needs to change. Unlike in Venezuela, the USA is not threatening the island state with military intervention. It is clear that change “cannot come from one day to the next,” said Rubio. Before demanding political freedoms, the US would first accept economic changes, said the Foreign Minister.
For its part, the Cuban government said it was ready to negotiate with the Trump administration, but stressed that its constitution and sovereignty are non-negotiable. Yúnior García Aguilera is skeptical: “I don’t think the regime will ultimately make concessions. They don’t care about the people.”
García doesn’t know how his island can be saved. “We protested, tried to change things peacefully from within – in vain.” Similar things happened at protests in Iran and Venezuela. Only the US intervention led to a change in Venezuela, although it is not yet clear whether it is moving towards democracy. “The Cubans who are still on the island are afraid. But what they fear most is that everything will stay as it is,” says García.
A regime change or at least a moderation of the current government would mean one thing above all for the actor: “I could finally see my son again. He lives with his mother, my ex-partner, in Cuba.” He hasn’t seen him since he fled 5 years ago. “He was a small child (9) when I left, today he is 1.90 tall and has the hint of a snout,” says García and laughs.