Cuba after the dictatorship: the difficult task of transition

The fall of a dictatorship is not the end of a tragedy. It is merely the beginning of a monumental task: to rebuild a country that has been devastated in its institutions, its economy, its civic values, and, above all, in the trust of its citizens. That is why we must begin talking now about what will happen the day after.

A transitional government cannot come to power without a plan. It also cannot become a mere extension of the old power under new names. Its mission must be clearly defined: to reestablish the Republic, ensure order, reclaim freedoms, and prepare for genuinely free elections.

The top priority will be to avoid chaos. Cuba cannot afford a vacuum of authority. Hospitals, power plants, transportation, banks, communications, and the distribution of food and medicine, as well as ports and airports, must continue to function. The population will need security and immediate responses.

However, maintaining the functioning of the State does not mean preserving the repressive apparatus intact. It is essential to distinguish between the institutions necessary for a country to operate and those structures created specifically to control, intimidate, and persecute its citizens.

The police must serve the law and not a political party. The Armed Forces must ensure national sovereignty and remain outside of political struggles. Repressive organizations must be dismantled.

And here emerges one of the greatest challenges: what to do with those who were part of the repressive apparatus? Collective justice cannot exist. Not all officials are criminals, nor are all military personnel responsible for the abuses committed by the regime. However, a general amnesty cannot be granted that transforms decades of abuses into actions without consequences.

The solution must be individual. Those who have not committed crimes should be able to continue their lives. Those who have committed serious abuses must answer to independent courts. And those who have ordered murders, torture, disappearances, or political persecution cannot hide behind their uniform, their position, or the duty of obedience. It is not about revenge. It is about justice.

Another explosive issue will be property. For decades, the Cuban state confiscated businesses, homes, lands, and enterprises. Many properties changed hands multiple times. Some families were expelled from the country, while others remained in Cuba. Resolving this issue will be one of the most complex legal tasks of the transition.

It cannot be achieved through political revenge or indiscriminate confiscations. Independent courts need to be established, titles and documents reviewed, legitimately acquired rights recognized, and compensation mechanisms set up when restitution is impossible.

The economy will be another minefield. The country will need to produce rapidly. It will be necessary to revive agriculture, industry, tourism, energy infrastructure, and trade. It will be essential to make room for private enterprise, guarantee property rights, and create clear rules for both domestic and foreign investment.

But we must not make the mistake of handing the country over to the first investor that comes along. Cuba will need a market economy with strong institutions, transparent rules, and social responsibility. The economic reconstruction must benefit the ordinary citizen, not create a new privileged class.

And there will be a matter that cannot be ignored: the Cuban exile. Millions of Cubans live outside the island. Many have retained properties, businesses, knowledge, and family ties. Others have professional experience and capital that could be essential for the reconstruction.

Exile cannot be treated as a foreign visitor. But neither can it claim to govern Cuba from Miami, Madrid, or anywhere else. Cuba will have to be rebuilt by Cubans both inside and outside the country, under the same laws and with the same rights.

The relationship with the United States will also be unavoidable. Washington will have an important role, but Cuba must not replace one dependency with another. The new Republic should maintain normal relations with the United States, Latin America, Europe, and the rest of the world, always defending its sovereignty.

Neither colony, nor satellite. Republic.

And above all, there will be political reconstruction. Political parties must be legalized, ensure freedom of the press, recognize labor and religious freedoms, protect the right to associate, and establish a genuine separation of powers.

The transition will need to prepare for free elections, but first, it must create the conditions for those elections to be genuine elections and not just a ceremony to legitimize the new powerful.

It will also be necessary to review the legislation inherited from the dictatorship. Changing the names of the institutions is not enough if the laws used to silence citizens remain intact. We will need to embark on an even deeper task: to rebuild democratic culture.

For decades, it was taught that the state was above the citizen, that the homeland belonged to the party, and that dissent equated to betrayal. The new Cuba will have to teach exactly the opposite: The state exists to serve the citizen. The government does not own the nation. The president does not own the country. And no party can be above the Republic.

The transition cannot live forever in confrontation with the past. It must look ahead. However, looking ahead does not mean forgetting.

A nation can forgive without renouncing the truth. It can reconcile without erasing memory. It can heal wounds without declaring that they never existed.

Truth, justice, and reconciliation. That should be the way forward.

That is why the transitional government must have very clear limits: a temporary mandate, specific objectives, and the obligation to hand over power to those who are freely elected by the citizens. Its success should not be measured by how long it remains in power, but by how quickly it makes its own existence unnecessary.

Because the true transition will not be the day when the leaders of the dictatorship disappear. It will be the day when a Cuban can enter a polling booth, vote freely, return home, and have the absolute certainty that no one will be able to persecute them for having chosen differently.

That day will truly mark the beginning of a new Republic. And this Republic will have to learn from tragedy. Because if, after all that has been suffered, Cuba once again hands over its freedom to a man, a party, or an ideology, then we will have changed leaders without changing our history.