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The Cuban political scientist and jurist Roberto Veiga, founder of Cuba Próxima, warned that the Cuban opposition and civil society lack "strategic action" to turn ideas into history, and that "the country is in ruins and needs to be rebuilt." He stated this in a lengthy interview granted to 14ymedio published this Thursday, a month after his return to Cuba following more than six years of exile in Spain.
Veiga returned to the island on May 30 without seeking permission from the regime or assuming any commitments. Upon landing at José Martí airport, he was held for three hours by State Security agents, whose sole interest was to find out who financed him and who gave him instructions. "Nobody pays me, nobody tells me what to do," he replied. During the following two weeks, he lived under obvious surveillance and had no contact with anyone, he reported to the press.
His decision to return, which many friends described as "madness," stems from a personal conviction: "We need to work from here, as this is where things are going to happen." Veiga is convinced that Cuba has reached a turning point, although he acknowledges that "how it will be and in what direction it will go is impossible to know," he told interviewer Reinaldo Escobar.
The return materializes a strategic shift of Cuba Próxima, founded in 2021 as a center for human rights studies following the protests on July 11, which is now transitioning into a platform for direct political action. Veiga describes the organization not as a party or a movement, but as a "platform" with a minimal programmatic project, aimed between democratic liberalism and social democracy: "Not to the center, nor to the right or the left, but forward."
The organization has a proposed Constitution that includes a semi-parliamentary system for when a constituent assembly is convened. "We are determined to pay whatever price and political cost necessary to help lift this country out of its current situation," he stated.
About the 176 economic measures approved by the National Assembly on June 19 —the largest package of reforms since the Special Period, which includes private banking and the elimination of the universal subsidy for the ration book—, Veiga expressed skepticism. He pointed out that these measures cannot progress without simultaneous institutional and political changes: “To implement the reforms, they are obliged to carry out institutional and political reforms at the same time, because otherwise, it doesn’t work. And I would go further; they would have to change 99% of the people currently in the Government.”
Veiga also ruled out the possibility that Washington will facilitate the financial opening required by the reforms. "Trump has lost interest in Cuba," he stated, adding that the Democrats, if they regain Congress in November, "will not intend to do anything bold either" because it would be politically costly for them. In that scenario, he insisted that Cuban political actors outside the regime must present credible national proposals: "To those under pressure, we must offer a distinct alternative to the pressure."
This diagnosis arises as Cuba faces its most severe crisis in decades, with a projected GDP decline between 6.5% and 15%, a real inflation estimated at around 70% year-on-year, and constant blackouts lasting over 24 hours in several provinces. The energy deficit worsened after the capture of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro in January 2026, which interrupted the oil supply to the island.
Veiga warned that without a profound change in the system, Cuba could become "a fourth-world country" or experience a "North Korean Haitianization," and set a definitive deadline: "Time is running out, but I believe that before the end of this year, the process that makes it possible to save Cuba must begin, one way or another."
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