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The Cuban journalist and researcher José Raúl Gallego published a reflection on Facebook yesterday, in which he dismantles one of the regime's most used arguments to paralyze the population: the fear of what will happen "the day after" the end of the dictatorship. According to Gallego, this fear is unfounded and has been deliberately fostered by the government itself to discourage any opposition articulation.
"One of the great fears and causes of paralysis in Cuba is what will happen the day after the fall of the regime? The dictatorship itself has instilled this fear, and with its control of information and repression of any kind of organization, it ensures that those who oppose it are portrayed as groups unable to generate proposals for the country's future," Gallego wrote.
The researcher and doctor in Communication from the Ibero-American University of Mexico was emphatic in refuting that narrative: "This is false. For decades, there have been proposals, both general and for specific areas, and in recent months, when a change in Cuba seems imminent, some of these have been revived or presented formally."
As concrete evidence, Gallego pointed out two recent initiatives. The Cuban-American National Foundation (FNCA) recently presented its "Cuba Roadmap", a structured roadmap comprising 13 pillars for the institutional, economic, and social reconstruction of the country, with the first chapter on institutions and the rule of law premised on the idea that prosperity requires a solid foundation.
On Saturday, the Centro de Estudios Convivencia (CEC-Cuba) published its "Catalog of CEC Cuba Proposals 2026", a document that covers 20 thematic areas: from peaceful transition and a new Constitution to economy, health, education, agriculture, culture, media, corruption, migration, and the anthropological damage caused by decades of dictatorship.
The CEC is a pluralistic, independent, and non-profit think tank of Cuban civil society based in Pinar del Río, founded in 2007, whose reports have been prepared by more than 991 academics, intellectuals, and experts from the island and the diaspora over the course of eleven years.
Among its central proposals, the CEC outlines "a transition to democracy in a peaceful, orderly, swift, and effective manner," structured into three subprocesses: Truth and Historical Memory; Transitional, Restorative, and Comprehensive Justice; and National Reconciliation.
In economic matters, the catalog proposes "an economic model serving the human person that is characterized by a market economy with social responsibility," recognizing private property and business freedom. It also outlines a new Constitution inspired by the texts of 1901 and 1940, accompanied by 45 supplementary laws.
Gallego acknowledged that the proposals from the FNCA and the CEC align on some points and differ on others, but he emphasized that "the important thing is that there is work already underway for when day zero arrives, which will surely continue to grow and be enriched with other proposals, routes that Cubans will be able to choose from democratically." He also highlighted that these are "proposals that are the result of years of work, not something invented overnight with Chat GPT."
The post is set against a backdrop of intense proactive activity. The Cuban exile signed the "Liberation Agreement" in Miami on March 2, with more than 30 organizations and a roadmap in three phases that includes the release of over 1,000 political prisoners and internationally supervised free elections.
"We still do not have freedom or democracy, but we can start thinking about what our country would be like when we achieve it. An exercise that involves rights, but also duties and responsibilities, so that the periods of dictatorship we have experienced as a nation do not happen again," Gallego concluded.
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