Spotlight on Cuba: Planning for the Post Castro Era

Chronological Summary of Key Events

July 26, 2008: A year after he announced the need to initiate structural changes in Cuba, President Raúl Castro used a speech on the 55th anniversary of the attacks on Moncada and Carlos Manuel de Cespedes garrisons by Fidel Castro’s rebel forces, not to unveil any new changes but to call on everyday Cubans to prepare for tough times in the days ahead. Among the population there was speculation that Castro would use Cuba’s important July 26th holiday to extend the rash of modest changes he had announced in recent months. Cuban citizens were expecting, at least, the lifting of Cuba’s entry and exit permits, of restrictions to micro business, or the free sale of houses and cars. But instead, Raul Castro focused on the global situation. Citing the global economic downturn and the rising cost of oil, he said Cuba and other countries in the developing world face severe challenges that would require belt-tightening and patience.

July 11, 2008: After being decided the previous day by members of the Polit Bureau of the Communist Party and the State Council, Cuba’s National Assembly adopts decisions on several subjects that were exposed by President Raul Castro during the closing speech of the Assembly’s one-day meeting: After debate by Cuban workers, to submit a draft bill on Social Security to the upcoming parliamentary session in December, which will raise five years the age of retirement for both women and men; to study “the salary problem” and address it gradually, depending on the economic situation of the country;  to suppress all unjustified free service and excess of subsidized social packages; to impose a tax system on salaries; to initiate the distribution of land that was being left idle, to usufructuaries; to encourage retired teachers to go back to work in order to increase the quality of education; and to restrict admission to education centres according to availability of employment; among others.  

June 11, 2008: In an article published by official daily, Granma, Carlos Mateu, vice minister of Labour and Social Security, says that the government has decided to eliminate caps on salaries for productive workers, and the rest should be ruled by these new measures by August. Mateu underscores that there has been a tendency for everyone to get the same, and that egalitarianism is not convenient. Granma says that the traditional Cuban pay system saps employees' incentives to excel since everyone earns the same regardless of performance. Mateu says the new compensation system fits with the mantra of "socialist distribution": "From each according to his ability, to each according to his work."

April 2008: President Raul Castro announces that the “provisional” period “begun on July 31, 2006 with the proclamation of the Commander in Chief," has ended; and convokes to the 6th Congress of the Cuban Communist Party for 2009, the first since 1997. Decentralization of agriculture takes place during the month, while food production is prioritized. The two main achievements of the Cuban Revolution, the health care system and education, receive the attention of the government: After severe criticism made public by relevant Cuban personalities, the population, and the official press, the family doctor program is reorganized and a new Education minister is appointed. At same time, the government states that reforms will strengthen socialism, and it will not tolerate attempts by the United States or local dissidents to subvert it. 

March 2008: During the month, the new government lifts certain restrictions to the population and initiates moves that hint toward the decentralization of the state-dominated agricultural sector. New regulations authorize the sale to Cuban citizens of various electronic products, including computers. A rule that forced people to pick up prescription drugs from a pharmacy assigned by the state is lifted. Cubans are allowed to stay in hotels previously reserved exclusively for tourists. And it is also allows unrestricted use of mobile telephones by all Cubans. At meetings across the island, farmers are told decisions ranging from land use to resource allocation and sales will no longer be taken by the Agriculture Ministry in Havana, but at the local level. President Raul Castro, First Vice President Jose Ramon Machado Ventura, and Vice President Carlos Lage increase visits to the different provinces, and the Isle of Youth, to supervise important productions and investments on site.

February 24, 2008:  Cuba’s National Assembly names Raúl Castro President of the Councils of State and Ministers. José Ramon Machado Ventura is named first vice president of the Council of State. Juan Almeida, Esteban Lazo, Abelardo Colomé, Julio Casas and Carlos Lage are named vice presidents, and José Miguel Miyar Barruecos is named the Council of State’s secretary. Other members of the Council of State are:  José Ramón Balaguer Cabrera, Ramiro Valdés Menéndez, Pedro Sáez Montejo, Luis Herrera Martínez, Iris Betancourt Téllez, Roberto Fernández Retamar, Francisco Soberón Valdés, Felipe Pérez Roque, Carlos Valenciaga Díaz, Orlando Lugo Fonte, Yolanda Ferrer Gómez, Salvador Valdés Mesa, Juan José Rabilero Fonseca, Julio Martínez Ramírez, María del Carmen Concepción González, Tania León Silveira, Regla Dayamí Armenteros Mesa, Inés María Chapman Bou, Dignora Montano Perdomo, Zurina Acosta Brook, Guillermo García Frías, Leopoldo Cintra Frías and Álvaro López Miera. As requested by Raúl Castro, the Assembly allows the President to consult with Fidel Castro on decisions associated to defense, foreign policy and the socioeconomic development of the country. Ricardo Alarcón is ratified as President of the National Assembly.

February 19, 2008:  Five days before the new National Assembly meets, Cuban official press publishes Fidel Castro’s letter of resignation as President of the State Council and as Commander in Chief.

January 20, 2008:  Fidel Castro is re-elected delegate to the National Assembly of the People's Power. As supreme body of the Cuban State, the newly elected parliament will choose 31 of its members to form the Council of State, including the president and vice presidents, on February 24.

December 28, 2007: In a letter to the National Assembly, for the second time in a month Fidel Castro makes an ambiguous suggestion that he could give up the presidency. Castro makes a reference to the effect on Cuba experts and the international press of his December 17 message to the TV show “The Round Table", when he suggested for the first time since he fell ill that he might give up power. “What the international press has emphasized most in its reports on Cuba in recent days is the statement I made (…) where I said that I am not clinging to power. I could add that for some time I did, due to my youth and lack of awareness, when, without any guidance, I started to leave my political ignorance behind and became a utopian socialist. It was a stage in my life when I believed I knew what had to be done and wanted to be in a position to do it! What made me change? Life did, delving more deeply into Marti’s ideas and those of the classics of socialism”. In this same message, and related to the illegal situation of current government, Castro incidentally justifies his Proclamation naming Raul Castro as interim president: "In the proclamation signed on July 31, 2006, none of you saw it at all as an act of nepotism nor as a usurping of the functions of the assembly," he writes to the legislative body. The temporary government has not been an issue within the Cuban parliament’s agenda; it has not been legally sanctioned.

December 17, 2007: Fidel Castro sends a message to the TV program “The Round Table” suggesting that he might give up his formal leadership. In an ambiguous sentence in a letter about the UN conference on global warming held in Bali, Indonesia, Castro says he won't stand in the way of younger people who can lead Cuba, but he also insists on being "of consequence" until the end of his life. “My elemental duty is not to cling to positions, much less to stand in the way of younger persons, but rather to contribute with my own experience and ideas whose modest value comes from the exceptional era that I had the privilege of living in.” In reference to the Brazilian architect, Oscar Niemeyer, who celebrated his 100th birthday, Castro added: “Like Niemeyer, I believe that one has to be consistent right up to the end”.

December 2, 2007: Fidel Castro is nominated for a seat in Cuba's parliament. His nomination for the election of representatives to the National Assembly, on January 20, 2008, leaves open the possibility that he will retain the country's presidency. Castro was nominated by municipal representatives of the People’s Power in the province of Santiago de Cuba. This is the first stage in a process that should end before March 5, 2008, with the constitution of the new National Assembly and the election of the State Council. 

November 22, 2007: The Christian Liberation Movement, headed by oppositionist Oswaldo Paya, founds the Citizen’s Committee for Reconciliation and Dialogue to promote “the Civic Campaign of the Cuban Forum”. With a presence in all Cuban provinces and over 300 members, the aim of the Citizen’s Committee is to facilitate the participation of all Cubans, without exception, in a civic movement that will debate and promote peaceful changes in Cuba. The Cuban Forum Campaign pursues the following objectives: the release of all those who are imprisoned for peacefully defending, promoting, and exercising universally recognized human rights; changes to the law to guarantee the exercise of fundamental rights for all Cubans, living in and outside of Cuba; the establishment of free elections for a Constitutional Assembly; and to have all Cubans, without exception, walk together in reconciliation, freedom, and brotherhood, constructing a more human, just, and free society in our sovereign and independent Nation. 

October 24, 2007: In an unprecedented event, Cuban television broadcasts, without interruptions, a long fragment of US President George W. Bush's speech about the island issued a couple of hours before at the Department of State. The day after, official newspapers published that same portion of the speech. In his October 24th speech, Bush issued a stern warning that the United States will not accept a political transition in Cuba in which power shifts from Fidel to Raul Castro rather than to the Cuban people. Bush's speech addressed the Cuban military and police saying they would have a place in a "new Cuba". In a reference to debates taking place in the island, he added that the Cuban people have now “the power to shape their destiny." He said the United States would maintain the embargo against the island. But Bush held out the possibility of incentives for change if Havana showed openness to them. Bush announced the creation of an international freedom fund, putting the State Department in charge of getting other countries and aid groups to donate funds. The money would go toward loans to entrepreneurs only if Havana recognizes the rights to free speech, free association, freedom of the press, and free elections. In response, the Cuban government did not issue an official statement; instead, it was published at a press conference delivered by the Foreign Affairs Minister.

September, 2007: A national debate takes place along the island. Meetings are held among Communist Party members, in workplaces and neighbourhoods responding to a call made by the government under Raul Castro to discuss his 26th of July speech. Castro asked Cubans to voice their views on any topic  “courageously” but “without expecting the problems to be resolved as if by magic.” Castro requested that at these meetings people speak “sincerely and objectively,” but warned that such discussion has boundaries because it must be conducted, “as we say in the armed forces: in the right place, at the right time and in an appropriate fashion.”

September 3, 2007: Fidel Castro publishes in Cuban official media a Reflection titled “The Superrevolutionaries”, that harshly rejects suggestions of changes in Cuba. According to several sources, the essay responds to suggestions of changes made by Marxist writers James Petras and Robin Eastman-Abaya in the article “Cuba: Continuing Revolution and Contemporary Contradictions”, widely published in Internet. Castro’s piece also contradicts Raul Castro’s 26th of July speech calling for structural changes in Cuba.

July 26, 2007: In his Revolution Day address, Raul Castro makes a frank assessment of Cuba’s situation, acknowledging difficulties and challenges faced by Cubans in their daily lives, opening the possibility of implementing economic changes, and warning that it is essential to bolster production, especially of food. “I can responsibly assure you that the Party and government have been studying these and other complex and difficult problems in depth, problems which must be addressed comprehensibly and through a differentiated approach in each concrete case”, he said. Castro mentioned the need for "a clear conscience about our problems, our inefficiencies, our errors and our bureaucratic and/or slack attitudes." He referred to the need "to change concepts and methods which were appropriate at one point but have been surpassed by life itself." "Revolution means a sense of our moment in history, it means changing all that ought to be changed”, Raul said quoting a speech by Fidel Castro on May 2000. For the third time since he assumed provisional power, Raul also offered to initiate a dialogue with the US: “The new administration will have to decide whether it will maintain the absurd, illegal and failed policy against Cuba or if it will accept the olive branch that we offered on the occasion of the 50th anniversary of the landing of the Granma”.

June 26, 2007: The Christian Liberation Movement (Movimiento Cristiano Liberación) launches a campaign to push for constitutional reforms that would allow for democratic elections and greater respect for human rights in Cuba. The Cuban Campaign Forum, promoted by CLM’s leader Oswaldo Paya, urges Cubans of all political stripes to join forces to demand free elections for a Constituent Assembly that would amend the constitution. It also calls to a dialogue among all parties including the government. The Forum was announced at a conference held in Miami, June 23-24, by Cuban and Latin American Christian Democratic Organizations (ODCA). In the conference “Proposals for Democratic Change in Cuba” participated the four Cuban organizations that belong to ODCA: Partido Democrata Cristiano de Cuba (PDC), Movimiento Cristiano Liberación (MCL), Proyecto Demócrata Cubano (PRODECU) and Directorio Demócrata Cubano (DDC).

April 15, 2007: Leaving political differences aside, several opposition organizations and individuals sign the document “Unidad por la Libertad” (Unity for Liberty). The document was issued after the official visit of Spanish Foreign Minister Miguel Angel Moratinos to Cuba. During the visit –April 1-3--, the governments of Spain and Cuba signed agreements to renew Spanish development aid - suspended after the crackdown on dissidents of 2003 - and to create a formal mechanism for dialogue on human rights.  Cuba’s Foreign Minister Felipe Perez Roque made clear that the subject of political prisoners, the most delicate issue in the tense relations between Havana and the European Union remains off limits. During his two-day stay in Cuba Moratinos did not meet with Cuban dissidents, an action that most Cuban dissidents assumed as an insult.  

April 6, 2007: A group of professionals begin analyzing the role of property in Cuba in search of ways to boost economic efficiency and battle corruption. The daily Juventud Rebelde says it is the first time a team of economists, philosophers, anthropologists and other specialists have come together to develop such a project, whose initial results are expected to be unveiled within a period of three years. A number of economists say they have been commissioned by the ruling Communist party to prepare reports on "socialist property in Cuba” and its external and internal threats. Plans to form the Commission on Socialist Property Relations were first announced in October 2006 by the official press.

April 1, 2007: New labour disciplinary measures are in effect. They were scheduled to be implemented in January but were put off in order to apply them "gradually, with consensus support and political sense, and in better conditions," reported the Central de Trabajadores de Cuba (CTC). According to resolution 188 of the Ministry of Labour and Social Security, the regulations "have the objective of improving order in the labour market, strengthening the education of workers, and confronting the lack of discipline and illegalities in the performance of people's jobs." The new rules are the first labour measures implemented by the provisional government of Raúl Castro.

March 30, 2007: Fidel Castro publishes an article in official daily Granma criticizing US environmental policies, emerging from months of silence on public political matters.  The article, that reasserts his voice on international issues after a long recuperation from intestinal surgery, offered no reason to doubt that the he  was its author. Weeks before, Foreign Minister Felipe Pérez Roque and Castro’s elderly brother Ramón, had said that the Cuban leader was recovering well from an intestinal surgery and could return to lead his country. 

December 30, 2006: A statement signed by Fidel Castro on the eve of the revolution's 48th anniversary assures Cubans that the ailing leader could still recover from his prolonged illness. The message was read on state television and radio and published in official newspapers. The island's official media has not commented on a Spanish surgeon's declarations that Castro did not have cancer and was slowly recovering from a serious operation. Jose Luis Garcia Sabrido, chief surgeon at Madrid's Gregorio Marañón Hospital, said he flew to Havana on December 21 to see Castro and consult with the Cuban leader's medical team on how his treatment was progressing. Castro traditionally sends a message to Cuban citizens every New Year's Eve to mark the anniversary of the January 1, 1959, revolution that brought him to power.

December 2, 2006: Fidel Castro fails to show at a military parade closing the festivities of his 80th birthday and celebrating the 50th Anniversary of the Granma landing. Instead, Raul Castro presides over the military parade and delivers a speech, which according to analysts marked the beginning of the real succession process in Cuba. In his address to a crowd of 300, 000 persons, the interim president reiterated his government’s willingness to resolve at the negotiating table the longstanding dispute with the United States. He also emphasized the importance of the Cuban Communist Party and the Armed Forces in the defence of Cuba’s regime.

November 27, 2006: Fidel Castro is not able to attend an opening gala of his 80th birthday celebrations in Havana on doctor’s orders. A message signed by Castro was read to all national and international guests gathered at the Karl Marx Theatre. Present at the event were vice president Carlos Lage and Esteban Lazo, Foreign Affairs Minister Felipe Perez Roque, and the president of the National Assembly Ricardo Alarcon. Raul Castro did not attend the gala.

October 25, 2006: In the wake of an unusual investigation by Cuban state journalists into public employees who regularly cheat customers, the Cuban government announces a study of what's wrong with the entire system. Also, new rules aimed at cracking down on widespread fraud and indiscipline at state businesses --that will take effect on January 2-- are announced in Granma. 

September 15, 2006: The Bush administration proposes that Cubans hold a referendum to decide if they want to be ruled by Raul Castro. The proposal was announced by US Commerce Secretary, Carlos Gutierrez, in Florida. "I would say to the Cuban regime, 'why not ask the people?'" Gutierrez said at The Miami Herald's Americas Conference. "Why would a real leader be so insecure about giving his people a voice?" Gutierrez aides said the administration wanted the Organization of American States to organize the referendum. Gutierrez, who was born in Cuba, said a referendum is not a "US-only idea" but one many countries around the world support. (AP, 15/9/06)

September 5, 2006: In an interview with Quebec’s daily Le Soleil, US assistant secretary of state for the Western Hemisphere Thomas Shannon says that Canada would assume a leading role in regards with a transition in Cuba if it shows the Cuban regime and the Cuban population that they could benefit from a change toward democracy. Shannon said that, “democratic countries that have links with Cuba are in an unique position to talk with the Cuban regime and with the Cuban people”. (AFP, 5/9/06)

August 23, 2006: Since Fidel Castro's July intestinal surgery forced him to transfer power to his brother Raul, the institutions of Cuba's totalitarian apparatus are probably "in a process (…) of negotiation as they attempt to determine what the power-sharing arrangements will be” in the post-Castro era, Thomas Shannon, US assistant secretary of state for Western Hemisphere affairs, says. Briefing reporters in Washington, Shannon said that, “ what we're seeing in Cuba today is effectively a slow motion transfer of power”. According to Shannon, “no political solution can be imposed from the outside, neither from the United States nor [from] any other country, but (…) it's imperative that the Cuban people be able to choose their future." He said that President Oscar Arias of Costa Rica, "in a comment several days ago, said that after 47 years of socialism and revolution, now might be the time to allow the Cuban people to choose their leadership." The United States agrees with Arias, "and we think that this is a moment in which the international community can (…) make it clear to the current regime" that "it really needs to begin a process of political opening that would lead to a transition to democracy in Cuba," he said. The State Department official recalled that in 2002, President Bush "effectively made an offer to the Cuban regime," which was promptly rejected by Castro. At the time, Bush said that "if the Cuban regime were prepared to free [its] political prisoners, respect human rights, (…) permit the creation of independent organizations such as political parties, trade unions, [and] civic organizations that were not dominated by the state, and if [Castro] were prepared to create (…) a pathway towards elections," then the White House would consult with the US Congress about abolishing the trade embargo against Cuba "and begin a deeper engagement with the Cuban state," Shannon told reporters. (Washington File, 23/8/06)

August 18, 2006: His first public statements since Raul Castro provisionally assumed power on July 31 are published in the official daily Granma. In an interview, Raul says Cuba would be willing to “normalize relations” with the United States “on an equal plane”.

August 17, 2006: The illegal opposition organization, Asamblea para Promover la Sociedad Civil en Cuba (Assembly to Promote Civil Society in Cuba), APSC, issues the document “Para propiciar el día después” (“Facilitating the Day After”), a set of  “ideas” based on the results of the APSC meeting held on May 20, 2005. During that meeting 15 commissions worked on topics like, mandate, legal and economic issues, public relations, media, public health, unions, ecology and environmental issues, religion, exile community, free ideological expression, youth and childhood, historical affairs, and dissidence groups

August 13, 2006: The Cuban official daily Juventud Rebelde publishes a note signed by Fidel Castro in which he warns the Cuban people to be prepared for any “adverse news” regarding his health. Castro also says that his recovery will take some time.

August 4, 2006: US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice says that Cubans should remain in their homeland to strive for "positive change" and that those of them "who desire peaceful democratic change can count on the support of the United States." Rice addressed the Cuban people in a message aired over the US government-funded Radio and Television Marti. "We in the United States are closely watching the events in Cuba. Much is changing there, yet one thing remains constant: America's commitment to supporting a future of freedom for Cuba, a future that will be defined by you - the Cuban people," the secretary said. "We encourage the Cuban people to work at home for positive change, and we stand ready to provide you with humanitarian assistance, as you begin to chart a new course for your country," Rice said.

August 3, 2006: US President George W. Bush offers "full and unconditional" support for a democratic transition in Cuba, urging Cubans "to work for democratic change." The comments were part of Bush's first public statement on the situation in Cuba since an ailing Fidel Castro provisionally handed power to his brother Raul. "The United States is absolutely committed to supporting the Cuban people's aspirations for democracy and freedom," Bush said in a written statement. "We will support you in your effort to build a transitional government in Cuba committed to democracy, and we will take note of those in the current Cuban regime who obstruct your desire for a free Cuba," President Bush wrote.

August 1, 2006: The Cuban government releases a statement from Fidel Castro saying his health is stable, his spirits good and the defence of the island guaranteed. According to the message read on the Cuban official TV nightly "Mesa Redonda," or "Round Table," Castro apologizes for not giving more details, but says the threat posed to his government by the US means his health must be treated as "a state secret," and he calls on Cubans to remain calm as they carry out their daily routines.

July 31, 2006: In a surprising announcement made on official TV by Fidel Castro's aide Carlos Valenciaga, the Cuban people and the world are informed that power in Cuba is "temporarily" in the hands of Ral Castro, the regime's official successor and Fidel Castro's brother. In the Proclamation signed by Castro, he informs the Cuban people that he suffered from gastrointestinal bleeding, brought on by stress from recent public appearances in Argentina and Cuba, and should have undergone surgery. "The operation has obliged me to take various weeks of rest, at a remove from my responsibilities and duties," he wrote.

July 10, 2006: US President George W. Bush approves the Report to the President issued by the Commission for the Assistance to a Free Cuba, an update on US policies to hasten and assist a Cuban turn to democracy after Fidel Castro. The Report opposes a succession process, includes an $80 million-plus fund to boost the opposition to Castro, and makes reference to Cuba-Venezuela relations. The text is accompanied by a two-page ''Compact with the People of Cuba'' that promises to ''work with the Cuban people to attain political and economic liberty''.

July 1, 2006: The 5th Plenary Meeting of the Cuban Communist Party's Central Committee, presided over by Fidel Castro, unanimously adopts the ideas presented by the Second Secretary of the Party, Raul Castro on June 14. In particular, it adopts his statement that, "the Commander-in-Chief of the Cuban Revolution is one and only one, and only the Communist Party, () can be the dignified heir of the trust deposited by the people in its leader", as reported by official daily Granma.

June 14, 2006: In a speech marking the 45th Anniversary of the Western Army, the Second Secretary of the Central Committee of the Cuban Communist Party and Minister of Defence, Army General Raul Castro, dismisses claims that Cuba's political system would change dramatically after his brother, Fidel Castro, is no longer in power. Raul says only the Communist Party will remain in control of Cuba if there is a leadership change.

May 10, 2006: Cuban dissident Oswaldo Paya, leader of the Movimiento Cristiano Liberacin (Christian Liberation Movement), releases a blueprint for a new Cuban constitution that would allow free elections and create a system that decentralizes authority. The 170-page document, compiled by Paya's organization, was produced after two years of discussions with Cubans on issues that included education, health, religion, the economy and freedom of expression. Propaganda and confiscation of private property are among things prohibited in the proposed constitution. The right to own a business and criticize those in power are among the expanded rights. ''No one can be antagonized because of their opinions or criticisms, even if these are directed against the government, government officials or any other person or sector of the society,'' the document says.

April 2, 2006: In an interview given to Ignacio Ramonet, the director of Le Monde Diplomatique, Fidel Castro voices confidence that younger leaders coming up through the ranks of the Cuban Communist Party, military and government will carry on his legacy. In a summary of the interview published in the Spanish daily El Pas, Castro suggests that succession will not be lead by the official successor Raul Castro: "If something happens to me tomorrow the National Assembly will surely meet and elect him." But then, for the first time, Castro admits that his brother, who will be 75 in June 2006, is also getting on in years. "He is getting near my age and this problem [succession] is more generational," Castro says, adding later that, "there are new generations [coming forward] because our generation is already passing."

December 23, 2005: In his remarks to the Cuban parliament, Felipe Prez Roque, Cuban Minister of Foreign Affairs, speaks for the first time to the Cuban public about the post-Castro era. In his address to National Assembly delegates, including Fidel Castro, Prez Roque identifies three "necessary premises" to avoid the disappearance of socialism at that time: One, the need to preserve "the authority of the revolution" based on its "legitimacy"; two, the need to retain the people's support; and three, the need to preserve the nation's properties in the hands of the people, and "not in the hands of a corrupt minority".

November 17, 2005: In a speech delivered to an audience of university students at the University of Havana, Fidel Castro admits to the vulnerability of Cuban socialism in the context of an analysis of widespread corruption. "This country can self-destruct; this Revolution can destroy itself, but they can never destroy us; we can destroy ourselves, and it would be our fault", he says. Castro's idea of a potential reversion of socialism in Cuba leads to further analysis about socialism and a post Castro era including by some high-ranking Cuban officials.

July 28, 2005: The US President, George W. Bush creates a new post, naming Caleb McCarry "Cuba transition coordinator"'. The post was recommended in a Report on Cuba issued by the Commission for the Assistance to a Free Cuba, in 2004.

April 19, 2005: Setting aside vastly divergent political and ideological views, a group of over 20 Cuban organizations from the exile community and from the island forms Consenso Cubano. Consenso crafts an 18-point blueprint of the principles that should be followed in a post Castro era. Representatives from organizations that include the Cuban American National Foundation, Agenda Cuba, the Cuba Study Group, Cuban Christian Democrats and members of the clergy, spent months working up the template called "Pillars for a Cuban Consensus''. Consenso is a gradual process of dialogue among organizations of the Cuban exile community with the objecting of reaching a consensus (as opposed to a majority vote) on those issues that unite them to achieve a peaceful and negotiated agreement on transition to democracy. Its purpose is to use dialogue as a method among organizations of very diverse political and ideological points of view in order to identify common points.

April 5, 2005: The Cuba "Now" Democratic Platform, an exile organization based in Madrid, presents a project of 16 points for a peaceful transition to democracy in Cuba. Among its key points, the Proyecto "Jos Mart" para la Transicin, Reunificacin y Democratizacin de Cuba ("Jose Marti" Project for Transition, Reunification, and Democratization in Cuba) supports a peaceful transition to democracy; advocates for the celebration of a national referendum during the post Castro era, and for the creation of a Provisional Board of Government, that would lead to the establishment of a Provisional Council of Government.

September 19, 2004: A three-day conference of the International Committee for Democracy in Cuba (ICDC), held in Prague, adopts a final declaration known as the "Prague Memorandum". This declaration seeks to set out common objectives for a general plan of support for democracy in Cuba that could be implemented in a coordinated manner at different levels and from different parts of the world.

July 22, 2004: Arco Progresista (Progressive Arch), a coalition of moderate dissident organizations in Cuba, proposes an alternative program for transition. Seis Pactos y Seis Pasos para una Transicin Tranquila (Six Pacts and Six Steps Toward a Peaceful Transition), states that transition to democracy should be gradual, smooth, and without the influence of foreign powers. Manuel Cuesta Mora, spokesman for Arco Progresista, says the coalition is made up of the Social Democratic Coordinator, the Democratic Socialist Current, Women of the Democratic Left, the Democratic Socialist Youth Movement, the People's Party, and the 'Diego Vicente Tejera' Centre for Studies of Democratic Socialism.

May 20, 2004: US President George W. Bush makes public a Report by the Commission for Assistance to a Free Cuba. The over 500-page Report explores ways to hasten and ease Cuba's democratic transition. In the text, the US strengthens economic pressure against the Cuban government, stands in support of opposition organizations inside the island, and describes the kinds of assistance Cuba would require from the US and how that assistance should be delivered.

February 10, 2004: The dissident coalition Todos Unidos (Everyone United) unveils its Propuesta de Programa (Program Proposal), a list of proposals to achieve peaceful change in Cuba, calling for free speech, private business ownership and the formation of labor unions. Vladimiro Roca, spokesman for Todos Unidos says the proposals are a step toward the goal of achieving peaceful change on the communist island.

December 12, 2003: Cuban dissident Oswaldo Paya, leader of Movimiento Cristiano Liberacin (Christian Liberation Movement), releases a 72-page manifesto titled Documento de Trabajo para el Programa de Transicin (Work Document for a Transition Program). The document seeks political reform and a transition to democratic rule. It foresees a democratic government being installed under a presidential college composed of three members. Its members, who would have to reside in Cuba, would be charged with overseeing a transition to democracy, according to the document.

October 10, 2003: In a speech later known as "the Rose Garden Speech", US President George W. Bush names his Cuban-born housing secretary, Mel Martinez, and Secretary of State Colin Powell to head a governmental commission to plan for a democratic transition in Cuba. The core agencies responsible for day-to-day operations of the Commission for the Assistance to a Free Cuba include, the State Department, the Department of Housing and Urban Development, the Treasury Department, the Commerce Department, the Department of Homeland Security, the National Security Council, and the US Agency for International Development. The Secretary of State designated Assistant Secretary of State for Western Hemisphere Affairs to direct the Commission activities.

September 18, 2003: The International Committee for Democracy in Cuba (ICDC) is founded in Prague to assist those struggling for democracy in Cuba. Former Czech President Vaclav Havel leads the group that includes former US secretary of state Madeleine Albright, former Polish dissident Adam Michnik, former Bulgarian Prime Minister Filip Dimitrov and Elena Bonner, the widow of Russian dissident Andrei Sakharov, among other relevant politicians and intellectuals.

December 19, 2002: The dissident movement Todos Unidos (Everyone United), made up of several groups of Cuba's internal opposition, issues a 36-point proposal aimed at reinforcing the Varela Project, Vladimiro Roca, spokesperson for the group says. The 36-point proposal (Propuesta de Medidas para Salir de la Crisis) includes an increase in salaries and pension payments, the right to own a home and vehicle, and the chance to open private businesses.

June 27, 2002: After a three day-session, the Cuban National Assembly votes to amend the country's constitution, making its socialist system of government "irrevocable."

June 12, 2002: In response to the Varela Project, Fidel Castro leads hundreds of thousands of people in a march in support of a constitutional amendment declaring Cuba's socialist state "untouchable.''

May 10, 2002: The Varela Project, a petition that calls for a referendum under the terms of the Cuban Constitution, is submitted to the Cuban National Assembly. The petition drive was lead by Oswaldo Paya, leader of the illegal Movimiento Cristiano Liberacin (Christian Liberation Movement), and signed by 11,020 people. It calls for a referendum on whether there should be more freedom of expression, an amnesty for political prisoners and a chance for ordinary citizens to own small businesses. The Varela Project advocates for peaceful change in Cuba.