Cuban Filmmaker Jorge Dalton Calls for End of Cuban Regime

Cuban-Salvadoran filmmaker Jorge Dalton recently declared in an interview with CiberCuba that the Cuban regime "must end, it must fall, it can no longer continue." He described it as "corrupt, highly repressive," and directly responsible for the decline of the Cuban nation.

Having been raised in Havana since the age of six and educated at the Cuban Institute of Cinematographic Art and Industry (ICAIC), Dalton offers a unique perspective. He knows Cuba intimately but has spent decades advancing his career from San Salvador, which provides him with the viewpoint of someone who "spends life walking and meeting characters," as he describes it.

Dalton acknowledged the division among Cubans, with some supporting armed action and others opposing it. However, he emphasized a common ground: "Both sides agree on one thing: the dictatorship in Cuba must end."

A Historical Perspective on Cuban Opposition

To illustrate why the Cuban opposition has struggled to form a transition plan, Dalton compared it to other 20th-century dictatorships like Franco's Spain, Pinochet's Chile, and Videla's Argentina. In those cases, he noted, "the opposition had some leeway to create a program that served them when the time for change arrived."

In contrast, since 1959, Cuba has seen the complete suppression of civil society and democracy, leaving the opposition without organizational capacity. The only attempt that came close, Dalton argued, was Oswaldo Payá's Varela Project, which operated legally until the regime crushed it.

"It was so dangerous for them, look what happened," Dalton said, referring to Payá's death, which he suggested was likely an assassination. "That's a case that needs to be revisited when the new Cuba emerges."

Payá died on July 22, 2012, in a car accident under disputed circumstances. Both the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights and the U.S. government have supported the theory that it was not an accident.

The Role of the Diaspora in a New Cuba

Addressing national reconciliation—a central theme of his documentary "In a Corner of the Soul," praised as one of the most outstanding films on Cuba in recent years—Dalton rejected the notion that Cubans who emigrated lose their right to voice their opinions on the island's future.

"You don't have the right to say anything because you live outside of Cuba, or you left, you abandoned—no, no, no," he countered, likening the diaspora's situation to that of José Martí, who spent much of his life in New York.

As the son of poet Roque Dalton, the filmmaker argued that any design for a new Cuba "must include the Cubans who have left," emphasizing that the new generations of the diaspora—in Miami, New York, Mexico, and Spain—will be the ones to "take the lead."

Transforming the Cuban Mentality

Dalton also stressed that "the new Cuba must begin with a change in our mentality," starting "within homes, families, and communication both outside and inside."

As a model for possible transformation, Dalton mentioned Nayib Bukele, El Salvador's president, who he said enjoys over 90% approval despite his divisive governance.

The documentary "In a Corner of the Soul" captures the thoughts of exiled Cuban writer Eliseo Alberto Diego, who died in Mexico in 2011. Diego advocated for reconciliation between the "two Cubas" as essential for any transition, a message Dalton finds as relevant today as when the film was made.