January 15, 2024
Good afternoon, everyone,
Today, we are gathered as the organizations participating in the Pasos de Cambio platform, which brings together various civic and opposition groups against the Cuban dictatorship, both inside the Island and in exile. Our purpose is to propose concrete steps to our people and the international community to advance toward a systemic change in Cuba. On this occasion, we will provide an institutional response to the measures announced yesterday by President Joe Biden’s administration.
Joining us at this conference are:
• John Suárez, Center for a Free Cuba
• Alian Collazo, Cuban Freedom March
• Kevin O’Brien, Bacardi Family Foundation
• Victor Dueñas, Foundation New Generation
• Rosa María Payá, Foundation for Pan-American Democracy and promoter of Cuba
Decide
• Erik Cartelle, Foundation for Human Rights in Cuba
• Mario Lleonart, Patmos Institute
• Dariel Fernández, Somos+ Movement
• Alejandro González Raga, Cuban Observatory for Human Rights
• Liu Santiesteban, People’s Party
• Katherine Mojena, Patriotic Union of Cuba (UNPACU)
• Yaxis Cires, representing the Cuban Observatory for Human Rights
Position on the measures announced by President Biden
President Biden’s decision represents a historic missed opportunity to promote structural changes in Cuba and contradicts the commitment to support the Cuban people’s democratic aspirations.
The announced measures, which benefit the Cuban regime’s military, are outrageous and reaffirm a policy that:
• Whitewashes the image of a regime that sponsors terrorism, applies state terrorism against its citizens, and poses a threat to the United States’ national security.
• Ignores the popular demand for systemic change, which has led to hundreds of activists and protesters being unjustly imprisoned.
• Disregards proposals from the Cuban opposition and civic organizations presented through Pasos de Cambio.
• Empowers the dictators by facilitating funding for the military, which uses these resources for repression and the impoverishment of the population.
The measures DO NOT benefit the Cuban people because:
1. 2. 3. They lift sanctions on military-controlled entities, which manage billions of dollars in foreign accounts, while the Cuban people face an unprecedented humanitarian crisis.
They remove the Cuban regime from the list of State Sponsors of Terrorism, ignoring its continued support for international terrorism and complicity with hostile actors such as Russia and Iran.
They reinforce the repression and impoverishment of the Cuban people by easing sanctions that fund the dictatorship’s extractive and repressive actions.
Our position and proposals
We welcome every political prisoner’s release and work toward this goal. At the same time, we condemn the regime’s use of Cuban political prisoners’ bodies as bargaining chips to obtain concessions while continuing to imprison and torture new citizens for expressing their ideas. There are currently over 1,000 political prisoners in Cuba—more than double the number of supposed upcoming releases. They remain hostages of the regime.
Today, we are once again presenting our Memorandum of Five Priority Points regarding
U.S. policy toward Cuba, which was previously submitted to both the outgoing and incoming administrations:
1. 2. 3. 4. 5. No Concessions: Condition All Relations
The United States must not make unilateral concessions to the Cuban regime. Any engagement must be conditioned on clear steps toward a democratic transition, including the definitive end of political imprisonment and the guarantee of free elections.
– Maintain the Cuban regime’s designation as a State Sponsor of Terrorism.
– Strengthen sanctions against the regime’s financial and military networks, responsible for repression and the humanitarian crisis, limiting their extractive and repressive capacity.
– Diplomatic Isolation: Lead an international coalition to isolate the regime’s criminals in global forums.
– Support civic organizations and the independent Cuban opposition, recognizing them as the legitimate representatives of the Cuban people.
Next Steps
On January 28, we will personally deliver this memorandum to the State Department and the White House and participate in the “Actions, Not Words” rally in Washington, D.C., promoting the implementation of these proposals.
We reiterate: the solution to Cuba’s crisis lies in the departure of the dictatorship. We call on all Cubans abroad to mobilize that day and bring these requests to U.S. embassies. The international community has a historic responsibility to support this effort.
Thank you
