Diego Suárez, co-founder of the Cuban American National Foundation (FNCA) and soon to turn 100 years old, has a clear answer for those seeking new transition programs for Cuba: everything necessary already exists and has been written for decades.
In an interview with Tania Costa, in CiberCuba, days after receiving the Herencia 2026 Award in Miami, Suárez was adamant: "To establish the new republic, there is no need to invent new transition programs, nor do we have to look at the Eastern countries when they freed themselves from the Soviet Union. We do not have to invent anything at all." His argument rests on two pillars: the Helms-Burton Act and the 1940 Constitution.
"The Helms-Burton Law encompasses the entire transition program and the foundation of the new republic," stated Suárez, who was one of the key figures in the lobbying that led President Bill Clinton to sign that legislation on March 12, 1996. The law sets forth specific conditions for recognizing a transitional government in Cuba: legalization of political parties, release of political prisoners, dissolution of the Department of State Security, and internationally supervised free elections.
The second pillar is the Cuban Constitution of 1940, which Suárez defends as the only legitimate legal framework for the new republic. "All of this must be done under the aegis of the 1940 Constitution," he noted, adding that this text is where "the Cuban people will be best protected and will protect themselves in the new republic."
Suárez recalled that this Constitution, promulgated in 1940 and in effect until 1958, was the first thing the regime abolished upon coming to power: "When these bandits arrived and kidnapped our homeland in 1959, the first thing Fidel Castro did was to suspend the functions and obligations of the 1940 Constitution."
His words come amid an active debate within the exile community. On June 1, the main organizations of the diaspora unanimously agreed to adopt the Constitution of 1940 as the foundational document for the future of Cuba. However, businessman Carlos Saladrigas, from the Cuba Study Group, stated on June 17 that this text is not relevant to today's Cuba, representing a minority yet visible position.
Suárez also sent a direct message to the new generations of activists and lawyers who want to shape the legal framework for the transition. “These young people have very good intentions and a great dedication, which is excellent, but they lack the experience we had when at the FNCA, in the 1990s, under the leadership of Jorge Mas Canosa, we created the conditions not only for the transition but also to put an end to the Castro-communist system, which has ultimately destroyed the republic.”
For Suárez, the key lies in unity. "Those of us who are fighting and continue to fight, the old and the young, men and women, those in Cuba and those in exile, we all need to have one voice."
In his thank-you speech for the Herencia 2026 award, Suárez was equally emphatic about the sovereignty of the future Cuba. "We don't want to be State 51 or a Free Associated State." He concluded with a message of hope that encapsulates his conviction after more than six decades in exile: "We are very close. The winds are blowing in our favor."
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