“I don’t know your name, your age, or if you have children or siblings. I don’t know the color of your skin or your family history. But I do know one thing: you and I are soldiers. And right now, the circles of power place us on opposite sides of a threat that I didn’t seek, and that I presume you didn’t either.”

With these words, a Cuban soldier began an “Open Letter from a Cuban Soldier to an American Soldier” on May 27, 2026. The letter went viral and was picked up by Radio Miami, which is circulating it and encouraging its followers to share. Radio Miami, based in South Florida, is “a digital portal for the world with on-demand audios, music, documentaries and ALL journalistic genres in order to defend the TRUTH OF CUBA.” Its broadcast content reflects the increased support among Cuban Americans for dialogue and exchange with the people living on the island as well as opposition to the U.S. economic war on Cuba.

The letter is a very personal expression of the reality that the U.S. warmakers deny, that — despite the tremendous hardships of the Cuban people today — they stand ready to defend their independence and their sovereignty with their lives. The United States may possess a greater military power, but its army would be fighting on foreign soil against a people committed to the defense of their homeland.

World-Outlook is publishing for the information of our readers the short introduction by Radio Miami alongside the letter. The translation from the original in Spanish and photos are by World-Outlook.

— World-Outlook editors

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A letter circulating throughout Cuba and igniting pride in being Cuban

Just a few hours ago, a letter written by a Cuban soldier to an American soldier went viral on social media. Without hatred, but with unwavering resolve, this young soldier expresses in simple yet profound words what it means to defend the dignity of a small island that has withstood more than six decades of challenges.

The letter is stirring consciences both on and off the island. Comments in Facebook groups, on personal walls, and even on emigration pages reflect the same truth: the feeling of being Cuban is stronger than ever.

And so that no follower misses out, we’ll reproduce it here in its entirety in this article. Keep reading and you’ll find every word that has moved an entire country.

Because beyond ideologies, there are principles a Cuban soldier never compromises on: Homeland or Death.

Share if you are also proud to be Cuban.

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Open Letter from a Cuban Soldier to an American Soldier 

Dear American Soldier:

I don’t know your name, your age, or if you have children or siblings. I don’t know the color of your skin or your family history. But I do know one thing: you and I are soldiers. And right now, the circles of power place us on opposite sides of a threat that I didn’t seek, and that I presume you didn’t either.

I’m writing you this open letter from Cuba, my homeland. From this island you’ve seen on maps, in news reports, or perhaps in old movies. But you do not know it. You don’t know what it’s like to wake up to the smell of coffee and the call of the tocororo.^[1] You don’t know what it’s like to sweat under the sugarcane sun, or to mourn a grandfather who left without saying goodbye. That is what you call a “military target.” For me, it is my home.

Your government, the powerful government of the United States, has spoken of aggression. Of intervention. Of “restoring order” or “liberating us.” These are words we’ve heard before. Carlos Manuel de Céspedes^[2] heard them when he raised his banner of freedom. The Mambises^[3] heard them in the Cuban countryside. Fidel heard them during the landing at Las Coloradas aboard the yacht Granma,^[4] and we hear them every day in the form of blockades, threats, and imperial attacks. But here we remain.

Today it is my turn, a young Cuban soldier, to defend my flag. That flag that Bonifacio Byrne,^[5] from exile, described with a pain I now feel as my own: “My flag, my flag, which I have seen amidst the bullets, which I have seen amidst the bullets, and which I have seen torn, torn into a thousand pieces, the Cuban raises upon his shoulders of steel.” That flag is not a rag. It is the blood of my great-grandparents. It is the lone star that shines without asking permission.

So if one day you are ordered to come, if you cross the sea with your boots and your rifle, I want you to know something: here you will not find a vanquished people. You will find men and women who grew up hearing that verse in the National Anthem, a verse that is not mere embellishment: “To die for the homeland is to live.” It is not a slogan. It is a certainty. Because when all you have is your land, your dignity, and your family, then no tank can take away your courage.

Antonio Maceo,^[6] our Bronze Titan, said it plainly: “Whoever tries to seize Cuba will only gather the dust of its soil soaked in blood.” It is not an empty threat. It is the experience of a hundred years of struggle. It is the warning that here the invader will find not flowers, but armed roots.

But I am not writing to hate you. I am writing to tell you that you and I could be friends in another life. That if we met on a street corner in Havana, perhaps we would share a coffee and you would tell me about your home in Ohio or Texas. I am writing to ask you to reflect: Who wins with this war? Your people? My people? Or those who trade stocks and manufacture weapons?

Your oath is to obey. Mine, too. But there’s a difference: you’re obeying an order to attack. I’m fulfilling my duty to defend my mother, my sister, my girlfriend, my neighbors. You would be invading my yard. I just want you to leave before blood turns us into enemies forever.

If you come, we’ll meet you with the resolve of those who have no other choice. I don’t promise you a clean or easy battlefield. I promise you that you’ll pay dearly for every inch of ground. But I also promise you that if you fall, I won’t celebrate your death. Because I know that behind your uniform there’s a family waiting for you.

So, soldier, heed my advice: don’t become the executioner of my country. Don’t bear the weight of an unjust war. Use your conscience before your rifle. And if you can’t refuse, at least remember this letter when you see our flag waving on the horizon. Because that flag, as Bonifacio Byrne wrote, will never be lowered.

“If they ask for my flag, / I must give it; / for there can be no surrender / more beautiful and more sincere / than to surrender it at the moment of death.”

That is my answer. Steadfast in the trench, but with a pure heart.

A soldier from Cuba,
who prefers to die on his feet than live on his knees.

Havana.

NOTES

[1] Tocororo is the common name for the Cuban trogan, the country’s national bird.

[2] Carlos Manuel de Céspedes (1819-1874) is a Cuban revolutionary hero who wrote the Cuban declaration of independence and was the country’s first president. Because of his own actions in the struggle for independence and because he lost three children during that long fight, Céspedes is known as the “father of the homeland.”

[3] The Mambises were guerrilla independence soldiers who fought for the independence from Spain of the Dominican Republic (1863–1865) and of Cuba in the Ten Years’ War (1868–1878), Little War (1879–1880), and Cuban War of Independence (1895–1898).

[4] Fidel Castro Ruz (1926-2016) was the central leader of the Cuban revolution. In November 1956, he led an expedition from Veracruz, Mexico, to eastern Cuba aboard the yacht Granma. The 82 fighters on board landed on Playa las Coloradas in the early morning of December 2, 1956, intent on the overthrow of the U.S.-back dictatorship of Fulgencio Batista. Three years later, Castro led the Cuban revolutionary army into Havana. He served as Cuba’s president from 1976 until his retirement in 2008.

[5] Bonifacio Byrne (1861-1936) was a poet whose work gave voice to the aspirations and the hardships of the Cuban people in their struggle for independence from Spain.

[6] José Antonio Maceo (1845-1896) was a leader of the fight for Cuba’s independence from Spain and the end of slavery on the island.

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