Gloria Estefan said while the United States has taken steps to normalize relations with Cuba, nothing has changed politically in Cuba for the people who live there.
“Most of the political changes have been here because in Cuba, there have been no changes,” the 59-year-old Cuban-born singer told the Huffington Post.
She said that while Cubans are “thrilled” with the improved relationship with the U.S., “political change” has to come from within the country.
(Photo by Thos Robinson/Getty Images for The Buoniconti Fund)
“I’m still looking forward to the day where there’s actual political change in Cuba,” Estefan said. “I think after 57 years, it has to be incremental. They can’t handle a sudden onslaught of democracy.”
(Photo by Ben Hider/Getty Images for The Buoniconti Fund)
“That may not be what is the best for them, because they’ve lived in like a time warp for so long,” she added. “It has to come internally, the leaders of Cuba have to be the ones that have struggled. You can’t come from outside, having lived a comfy life somewhere else, and suddenly tell them what to do.”
“I just think that wouldn’t be right or I don’t think it would work.”