The Cuban activist and opposition leader Rosa María Payá dismissed the notion that Cuba needs a regime operator to manage a political transition in the Venezuelan style, and she was emphatic: "There is no need for a Delcy Rodríguez in Cuba".
The statement can be seen in an Instagram reel published by journalist Alexis Boentes. Payá's pronouncement comes at a time when Delcy Rodríguez's rise to power in Venezuela has sparked speculation about whether a similar model —an operator of the system negotiating with Washington without relinquishing real power— could be replicated in Cuba.
The opposition member was straightforward in explaining why that scenario is neither suitable nor desirable for the Cuban case.
"The process that we have carried out through civic and opposition organizations, both inside and outside the island, is precisely to prepare a transition team that can lead that provisional period and guide the country from totalitarian barbarism towards free, fair, and plural elections."
The founder of Cuba Decide and Executive Director of the Foundation for Pan American Democracy also warned that the Cuban exile community is not willing to support what she called a "fraudulent change."
"The people who are protesting on the island and those who are in exile do not want a fraudulent change; they do not want the Castro family and the group of generals in power to keep buying time and continue lying to the world and to Cubans about the reality."
The debate over a possible "Cuban Delcy Rodríguez" gained momentum following the rise of the former Venezuelan vice president to the interim presidency on January 5, after the capture of Nicolás Maduro.
Rodríguez turned towards Washington, withdrew Cuban advisors and security forces from Venezuela, signed energy agreements with the United States, and was officially recognized by the Trump administration on March 12.
This Thursday, he met with a delegation from the U.S. Senate to formalize an energy cooperation agenda, in a process during which he also dismissed Vladimir Padrino López as Minister of Defense to distance himself from Maduro's regime.
In contrast to that model, Payá and the Cuban opposition have crafted their own roadmap. On March 2, along with Orlando Gutiérrez-Boronat and José Daniel Ferrer, he presented the "Agreement for Liberation" in Miami, promoted by the Assembly of the Cuban Resistance and Steps for Change.
The plan includes three phases: immediate release of more than 1,000 political prisoners and the dismantling of the Communist Party of Cuba; stabilization with a plural provisional government to address the humanitarian emergency; and democratization with free, multiparty elections that are internationally supervised.
"We are ready for change," Payá had stated while presenting the Liberation Agreement, summarizing the stance of an opposition that rejects any solution that does not involve a real break with the dictatorship.
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