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Cuban opposition unveils in Madrid a three-phase roadmap of up to 36 months for a transition
The plan, presented by Rosa María Payá on 3 November in Madrid, calls for an end to repression, a provisional government lasting between 18 and 36 months with no extensions, and a binding constitutional plebiscite, according to Infobae and Alas Tensas.
The proposal was laid out on 3 November at the Hotel Wellington in Madrid, during the gathering «Cuba en el umbral», which brought together activists, jurists, economists and representatives of opposition organisations from inside and outside the island. Payá founded Cuba Decide and coordinates the Pasos de Cambio platform.
The plan splits the transition into three stages: liberation, stabilisation and reconstruction, and democratisation. It foresees a transitional period of between 18 and 36 months, with no extensions, ending in a binding constitutional plebiscite and plural, competitive elections. The provisional government would be made up of specialists from the diaspora and officials who remain in Cuba.
The first phase sets as a requirement the end of state repression and the restoration of fundamental rights. It includes dissolving State Security, the rapid response brigades and the surveillance systems tied to the Committees for the Defence of the Revolution, and proposes placing the Armed Forces under civilian authority. Alas Tensas adds the unconditional release of political prisoners and the removal from power of the Castro family and the military command.
Armando Ibarra, who heads the initiative's security area, proposed removing Russian and Chinese intelligence services from Cuba. The document also envisages transferring the Grupo de Administración Empresarial S.A. (GAESA), controlled by the Armed Forces, to civilian administration.
The second phase foresees distributing food, water and medicine during the first 180 days, with an initial operation within 72 hours. Yaxys Cires, of the Cuban Observatory of Human Rights, said the aid would be free and carry no political conditions, coordinated by a national authority and logistics hubs. On the economy, the economist Elías Amor Bravo proposed shrinking the state's weight in production, widening guarantees for private property, containing inflation and attracting investment.
The document devotes a section to transitional justice: the political scientist Julio M. Shiling, an adviser on that area, proposed investigating the crimes attributed to the Cuban government, vetting state institutions and preserving the archives of the security bodies. The programme envisages mechanisms to restore or compensate property confiscated after the revolution, while establishing the right of those currently occupying it to remain.
«We are no longer exclusively denouncing the dictatorship, we are preparing the Republic», Payá said at the presentation. She argued that the proposal is addressed to all Cubans, including those still inside state and party structures, so that change is not confined to opposition sectors.
Among the organisations represented at the event, Alas Tensas lists Cuba Decide, the Ladies in White, the Cuban Observatory of Human Rights, the Christian Democratic Party of Cuba, the Party of the People, Cuban Freedom March, the Center for a Free Cuba and the Foundation for Panamerican Democracy. This is an opposition proposal: neither source describes a transition process under way nor a timetable for putting it into effect.
Sources: Infobae · Alas Tensas
Data updated: 2026-11-10T04:15:00.000Z