Monreal and complementary reports from Harvard and Cuba Transformación for the future of the island

The Cuban economist Pedro Monreal published an analysis this Tuesday on his X account in which he compares the recent Harvard Group Report on the Future of Cuba with the economic proposal Cuba Transformación, which he co-leads, and concludes that both initiatives are complementary, not rivals.

Monreal argues that the difference between the two documents is "in their object and scope." Cuba Transformación —a 120-page roadmap developed by five independent Cuban economists— is defined as an economic policy proposal that takes the democratic rule of law as its normative horizon, but does not outline any political transition: it does not establish a political modality, sequence of actors, amnesty, interim government, or constituent assembly.

The report from Harvard, on the other hand, does propose concrete political steps. According to Monreal, the document suggests "immediate changes—including a general amnesty and the repeal of restrictive rules—a facilitation role for the current authorities, a transition government perceived as legitimate, and, in the medium to long term, a constitutional assembly aimed at a democratic and pluralistic system."

The Harvard report was published on September 10 by the David Rockefeller Center for Latin American Studies (DRCLAS) and the Cuba Studies Program of that university, after six months of work by 14 Cuban and international scholars and experts. Its coordinators are Alejandro de la Fuente and Steven Levitsky, and it was presented as a "living document, under construction," subject to consultations and revisions.

One of the most debated proposals in the report is precisely the role of "facilitators" assigned to the current Cuban authorities in the transition process. The activist Ariel Ruiz Urquiola questioned that point the day before Monreal's publication, warning against a "fiction of equality between the oppressor and the oppressed".

Monreal does not engage in that controversy. His interpretation is conciliatory: "They are distinct and complementary pieces. One provides an economic framework with institutional conditions; the other proposes concrete steps for political transition."

Cuba Transformación was announced in June 2026 and its full version was released in July. The proposal, developed with the support of the Cuba Study Group and the Observatory on the Cuban Economy, aims to in three phases: emergency stabilization, productive and institutional recovery, and medium- and long-term development.

The authors —Monreal, Mauricio de Miranda Parrondo, Omar Everleny Pérez Villanueva, Ricardo Torres Pérez, and Pavel Vidal Alejandro— clarified from the outset that the proposal is not addressed to the current Cuban government.

Both initiatives are part of a broader ecosystem of plans for the "day after" the dictatorship that has flourished throughout 2026.

The Liberation Agreement, signed in March in Miami by the Assembly of the Cuban Resistance and the coalition Pasos de Cambio with the support of over 30 exile organizations, proposes the release of more than 1,000 political prisoners, a provisional government, and free elections.

For his part, one of the co-authors of Cuba Transformación, Mauricio de Miranda, proposed in September a "Marshall Plan" to rebuild the island linked to financing from international organizations. Carlos Saladrigas estimated that only the first phase of economic stabilization would require between 6 billion and 10 billion dollars.

This plurality of academic proposals about Cuba is good news: it enriches the debate and reminds us that the economic and political transformation of the country requires rigorous, diverse, and sustained thinking," concluded Monreal.