In Díaz-Canel’s absence, Foreign Minister Bruno Rodríguez presided over the podium and avoided mentioning the contacts with Washington regarding Maduro.
14ymedio, 7 December 2025 — Havana awoke this Saturday to an official event on 17th Street in El Vedado, hastily convened and with a discretion that contrasted sharply with the massive demonstrations of Venezuelans scattered throughout Latin America in support of María Corina Machado, the 2025 Nobel Peace Prize laureate. While in Bogotá, Lima, and Panama, tricolor shirts, flags, and signs celebrating the opposition leader predominated, in Havana the event organized by the Cuban government reiterated its condemnations of Washington, its accusations of war threats, and its unequivocal support for Nicolás Maduro.
The absence of President Miguel Díaz-Canel—whose presence has been constant at international events of government propaganda—set a low tone from the outset. In his place was Foreign Minister Bruno Rodríguez, accompanied by the secretary of the Federation of Cuban Women, Teresa Amarelle Boué, and the Venezuelan ambassador to Havana, Orlando Maneiro Gaspar. None of them mentioned the rumors circulating for days about alleged talks between Havana and Washington regarding Maduro’s uncertain political future.
Anonymous sources cited by Reuters on Saturday indicated that “some members of the Cuban regime” have made discreet contact with U.S. officials to explore possible scenarios should Maduro leave power. According to the report, among the options discussed is a “world without the Maduro regime,” which reveals that certain circles within the Cuban power structure are already analyzing the feasibility of a change in Caracas in light of escalating sanctions, international pressure, and military operations.
After more than a quarter of a century of “violations, death and misery,” the country finds itself “on the threshold of freedom”
In contrast to the cold official ceremony this Saturday in Havana, the streets of Latin American cities were filled with thousands of Venezuelans called upon by Machado to march “for peace and freedom,” four days before she will officially receive the Nobel Peace Prize in Oslo. In Bogotá, Mauricio Vaquero, of the Comando con Venezuela en Colombia (Command with Venezuela in Colombia), summarized the sentiment of many, stating that after more than a quarter of a century of “violations, death, and misery,” the country is “on the threshold of freedom.” Vaquero’s words, far removed from the defensive tone of the speeches in Cuba, reflected the conviction that the international distinction awarded to Machado is a symbolic blow to Chavismo.
In Panama, dozens of Venezuelans marched from the Cinta Costera to the Plaza de la Democracia. “We are proud to have a Nobel laureate who has fought for the freedom of an entire region,” said Ricardo Contreras, one of the organizers. The march, which many described as “full of light and hope,” was a far cry from the rigid atmosphere of the event in Havana, where every speech seemed like a rehearsed recitation of the panic within the Castro regime over the potential loss of its main ally in the region.
Lima was also the scene of a demonstration in front of the Venezuelan Embassy, where the diaspora — 1.5 million migrants in Peru — carried replicas of the Nobel Prize medal, flags, and signs with phrases such as “The Nobel Prize belongs to those unjustly detained” and “The Nobel Prize belongs to those who have given their lives for this struggle.” Verónica Durán, of the New Global People Alliance, stated that the prize “is a victory for all of Venezuela.”
Venezuelans have reacted with outrage to the death in custody of Alfredo Díaz, former governor of Nueva Esparta, after a year of isolation at the SEBIN (Bolivarian National Intelligence Service). His death adds to a string of at least six opposition members who have died in prison since November 2014, and to a record that, according to Foro Penal (a Venezuelan human rights organization), includes 17 political prisoners who have died since 2014. Both the NGO and María Corina Machado denounced these deaths as part of a pattern of torture, isolation, denial of medical care, and stalled trials, while the country continues to hold 887 political prisoners.
Today, Havana’s calls to action lack force, overshadowed by the internal crisis and a population increasingly unwilling to validate official spectacles.
Meanwhile, the official event on Havana’s 17th Street unfolded amid predictable slogans and speeches that insisted on a narrative of “imminent aggression” by the United States. Dr. Idalmis Rodríguez, chosen to speak as “a representative of the forces defending peace,” criticized the awarding of the Nobel Peace Prize to Machado, calling it a “grotesque contradiction” and accusing her of calling for foreign military intervention. This worn-out rhetoric was heard by a small audience, composed mainly of mobilized activists and state officials.
The ambassador of the Caracas regime, Maneiro Gaspar, for his part, reiterated the claim that his country has faced “a real threat” since August and denounced “murders in the Caribbean Sea,” referring to the US attacks on some twenty vessels linked to drug trafficking. Even so, he went so far as to announce “exponential growth of 6%,” an economic optimism that contrasts sharply with the crisis gripping the country and the lack of enthusiasm among Venezuelan emigrants to return home.
Amarelle Boué reiterated the sanctions as “collective torture,” the denial of links between the Venezuelan regime and criminal organizations, and the demand to “keep your hands off Venezuela.” But neither she nor the other speakers addressed a persistent underlying issue: what role does Havana play in the diplomatic maneuvering surrounding Maduro’s political future?
For decades, Cuba was the natural stage for large-scale “anti-imperialist” demonstrations, but today these events lack force, overshadowed by the internal crisis and a population increasingly unwilling to endorse official spectacles. The fact that the government opted for a modest event and that Díaz-Canel remained on the sidelines reinforces the impression that the priority at this moment is not Venezuela, but rather the island’s own political survival.
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