Coming off President Donald Trump’s declaration that the United States is actively pursuing change in Cuba, Cuban opposition leaders in South Florida say they are ready to meet the moment.
On Monday, a coalition of Cuban activists formally signed what they’re calling “The Freedom Accord,” a coordinated framework aimed at liberating the island and launching a democratic transition.
“Freedom will simply not fall out of the sky,” said Orlando Gutierrez of the Assembly of the Cuban Resistance. “We are here to work together to unify under one flag — that Cuban flag — which is the only one that is present in this room together with the American flag.”
The signing was led by Rosa María Payá, daughter of Oswaldo Payá, a Cuban activist killed on the island. Payá, who leads the group Pasos de Cambio, described the accord as a structured and actionable plan to confront what she and others called the Cuban dictatorship.
“We have a plan because we are convinced — we know — that the only way out of the crisis is to get rid of the dictatorship,” Payá said.
According to organizers, the Freedom Accord lays out a three-phase roadmap:
- Grassroots mobilization inside Cuba, demanding systemic change.
- Mounting international pressure, supported by the United States government, targeting the regime’s power structure.
- Cuba’s first fair, multiparty elections, marking what they envision as a democratic transition .
“As the president’s emergency order has clearly defined the regime in Cuba as a threat to U.S. national security, we are here to work together. We’re here to do everything — to save Cuba,” Gutierrez said.
Organizers say the Freedom Accord is the first pact of its kind to present a coordinated transitional framework endorsed by a unified coalition of Cuban opposition forces.
After the agreement was signed, it was placed inside a shrine to Our Lady of Charity, the patroness of Cuba, where participants prayed for what they described as a free and just nation.
“We don’t come here to unify under party banners, but under the dream and the promise of a free and just Cuba,” Gutierrez said.
Organizers confirmed the U.S. State Department has been notified of the Freedom Accord and its contents.
