Diego Suárez, a Voice from Historic Exile, Argues Cuba's Transition Needs No New Inventions

Diego Suárez, a co-founder of the Cuban American National Foundation (CANF) and approaching his centennial year, offers a straightforward response to those advocating for new transition plans for Cuba: everything required has been established for decades.

In a conversation with Tania Costa for CiberCuba, shortly after receiving the Herencia 2026 award in Miami, Suárez was unequivocal: "To establish a new republic, we don't need to create new transition programs nor look to Eastern European nations that broke free from the Soviet Union. We don't need to invent anything at all." His belief is grounded in two cornerstones: the Helms-Burton Act and the 1940 Cuban Constitution.

The Role of the Helms-Burton Act

"The entire transition program and the foundation for a new republic are outlined in the Helms-Burton Act," stated Suárez, who played a significant role in lobbying President Bill Clinton to sign the legislation on March 12, 1996. The Act delineates specific conditions for recognizing a transitional government in Cuba: the legalization of political parties, the release of political prisoners, the dissolution of the Department of State Security, and internationally supervised free elections.

The Importance of the 1940 Constitution

The second cornerstone is the 1940 Cuban Constitution, which Suárez champions as the only legitimate legal framework for the new republic. "All of this must be done under the aegis of the 1940 Constitution," he emphasized, adding that this document offers the best protection for the Cuban people in a new republic.

Suárez recalled that this Constitution, enacted in 1940 and in effect until 1958, was the first thing the regime abolished upon seizing power: "When these bandits took over and hijacked our country in 1959, the first thing Fidel Castro did was suspend the functions and obligations of the 1940 Constitution."

Debate Among the Cuban Exile Community

His words resonate amid ongoing debate within the exile community. On June 1, leading diaspora organizations unanimously agreed to adopt the 1940 Constitution as the future charter for Cuba. However, businessman Carlos Saladrigas of the Cuba Study Group expressed on June 17 that the document holds no relevance for today's Cuba, representing a minority yet notable viewpoint.

Suárez also addressed the new generations of activists and lawyers eager to design the legal framework for transition. "These young people are full of good intentions and dedication, which is excellent, but they lack the experience we had in the CANF during the 1990s under the leadership of Jorge Mas Canosa, when we created the conditions not only for transition but to dismantle the Castro-communist system that has ultimately destroyed the republic."

For Suárez, unity is paramount. "Those of us fighting and continuing to fight, both the old and the young, men and women, those in Cuba and those in exile, must all speak with one voice."

In his acceptance speech for the Herencia 2026 award, Suárez reiterated the importance of Cuba's future sovereignty. "We do not wish to become the 51st state nor a Commonwealth," he declared, concluding with a hopeful message reflecting his conviction after more than six decades in exile: "We are very close. The winds are blowing in our favor."