Various Cuban opposition groups, including Cuban Freedom March, Pasos de Cambio and the Assembly of Cuban Resistance (ARC), assembled at the Ermita de la Caridad del Cobre – a Roman Catholic church and shrine in Miami dedicated to the patroness of Cuba – to sign the ‘Liberation Accord’.
Rosa María Paya, one of the two (along with Secretary General of the ARC Orlando Gutiérrez-Boronat) main signatories of the Accord and prominent Cuban opposition activist, defined the Accord as “a coordinated transition framework endorsed by a unified coalition of Cuban opposition forces, both on the island and in exile”.
John Suarez, the Executive Director at the anti-Cuban regime Center for a Free Cuba, spoke to Latin America Reports about the significance of the unification of the Cuban opposition. The Liberation Accord, he explained, “is a step forward in uniting Cuba’s opposition movement with a vision to return sovereignty to the Cuban people after 67 years of communist dictatorship”.
The signing of such a document appears to indicate that the Cuban opposition anticipates some kind of regime change and subsequent democratic transition on the island in the near future.
Suárez confirmed that the Cuban opposition “believe[s] change is imminent” because of “the exhaustion of the communist model in Cuba which is repudiated by the majority of Cubans” and the decision of the White House to pressure “the existing regime to make fundamental changes”.
The Liberation Accord maps out what this transition might look like. In addition to condemning the regime, the document sets out a three-stage plan for change in Cuba: it proposes a “liberation”, “stabilization” and “democratization” of the island.
That process would involve “dismantling the criminal enterprise that is the Communist Party of Cuba, along with dismantling all its repressive organizational mechanisms”. In concrete terms, the document suggests that the Cuban opposition movement would establish a provisional government to address the deepening humanitarian crisis, free political prisoners, rebuild democratic institutions and guarantee a stable transition to free, multiparty elections on the island.
Suárez explained that unity among diaspora and resident Cubans would be a key part of the process set out by the opposition’s plan. The opposition reportedly invites “all Cubans who have not committed grave human rights violations to join this effort”.
If the transition to democracy happens, Suárez expects an end to the “United States embargo on Cuba due to … [the] law established in the Cuban Liberty and Democratic Solidarity Act on March 12, 1996”. This law, widely known as the Helms-Burton Act, stipulates that the establishment of a democratic transitional government is a legal prerequisite for the removal of the embargo.
The proposed democratic transition would likely need the backing of the United States to be successful; the signatories of the Liberation Accord are based primarily in South Florida. The U.S. government, which has recently repeatedly threatened regime change on the island and tightened anti-Cuba economic sanctions, could well support the newly unified Cuban opposition movement’s ambitions.
Image Source:Rosa María Paya A. via X
U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio has long been a staunch critic of the Cuban regime and is an ally of María Paya, having previously nominated her to the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights. In his statement supporting her nomination, he described her as “a principled, courageous, and deeply committed human rights and democracy defender”.
Sebastián Arcos Cazabón, the Associate Director of the Cuban Research Institute of Florida International University and a Research Council member of the Center for a Free Cuba, spoke to Latin America Reports about the unique nature of the current political moment: “There are many active Cuban political [opposition] groups inside and outside the island, and a unified umbrella … always seemed unreachable”, Cazabón explained.
The Cuban opposition activist, who was born in Havana and was imprisoned on the island for attempting to escape the country in the early 1980s, expressed hope that this latest declaration by the various Cuban opposition groups “achieves what seemed impossible” and that this unification, combined with support from the United States, will lead to a “complete regime transition to a full democracy … [and] nothing less than free elections in a relatively short period of time, two or three years max”.
However, some Cubans have questioned the intentions of the “Liberation Accord”. An official of the Cuban Foreign Ministry, who asked to remain anonymous, told Latin America Reports that “these organizations do not represent the Cuban people, they have no legal standing, and their members prioritize personal and economic interests. Waging counterrevolution in Miami is a lucrative business”.
Although the Cuban government has not thus far published an official statement regarding the “Liberation Accord”, certain left-wing figures have expressed their skepticism about the intentions of the plan.
María Teresa Felipe Sosa, a Cuban journalist who writes for the left-leaning Diario Red, questioned the legitimacy of Paya and Boronat, as well as the other signatories. Felipe Sosa referred to the supposedly dubious “moral or political authority of those who intend to decide the future of Cubans from a territory that has served as a base to organize terrorist acts against our people”.
There has indeed been a history of covert and, in some cases, violent incursions of Cuban exiles on Cuban territory with the explicit aim of forcing regime change. Last week, the Cuban authorities intercepted and were allegedly attacked by a Florida-registered speedboat reportedly carrying 10 Cuban nationals who were resident in the U.S.
According to the Cuban authorities, the group planned an “infiltration [of the island] with terrorist aims”. Cuban Deputy Foreign Minister Carlos Fernández de Cossío also lambasted “anti-Cuban groups operating in the United States [that] resort to terrorism as an expression of their hatred against Cuba and the impunity they believe they enjoy” in a statement to the press last week. There has been no suggestion, however, that any of the signatories of the “Liberation Accord” were involved in this incident.
Featured Image: Rosa María Paya and U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio at the Department of State
Image Credit: U.S. Department of State via Wikimedia Commons
License: Creative Commons Licenses
