John Suárez — the son of Cuban exiles who spends part of his year living in Miami — has experienced firsthand the hopes held by the exile community and their families. He has witnessed their dreams of returning home and the dinner-table conversations envisioning a prosperous, free future for the island.

Now, as executive director of the Center for a Free Cuba (CFC) — a non-partisan, D.C.-based NGO focused on monitoring human rights violations — he has published a significant analytical paper titled “Cuba at a Crossroads: Options for Supporting Democratic Transition Amidst Economic Collapse and National Security Challenges.”

The report calls upon the Trump administration to focus on immediate, shared objectives, such as demanding the unconditional release of all political prisoners (currently numbering over 1,200) and a full amnesty. This is perhaps the point where his views most concretely align with those of activists in exile and Cubans on the island who seek a change of regime.

Furthermore, the CFC demands that the International Committee of the Red Cross be granted access to Cuban prisons. The last such visit authorized by Havana took place in 1989.

Suárez deems it crucial to “secure verified humanitarian assistance through independent channels — bypassing entities controlled by the regime — in a manner consistent with a spirit of reconciliation.” This is something the administration has already been facilitating through the Catholic Church, but which it could also pursue in future aid shipments through evangelical groups — a growing presence now spread across the entire island.

U.S. Ambassador to Havana, Mike Hammer, recently held meetings with representatives of these groups.

The CFC calls for preparations for what it terms the “Liberation Phase.” How? By documenting acts of repression, training citizens in non-violent resistance and transitional governance, and preserving evidence for future truth and justice commissions. Of that entire list, in my opinion, the most critical element is that the regime must set a date for holding free and fair elections. There must be a date!

As I explained in an interview with Univision a few days ago, the regime is an expert at buying time. Havana has proven its ability to evade the deadlines of history. And John Suárez is well aware of this, too. In a previous conversation with me, he acknowledged that Washington should not underestimate the Castro regime.

Furthermore, the CFC document includes several policy recommendations to be followed.

First, it urges the United Nations to send an independent delegation to conduct an on-the-ground assessment of the current food and medicine crisis in Cuba. As a second step, donor nations must “channel assistance exclusively through independent mechanisms of proven effectiveness” or insist that Havana legalize genuine non-governmental organizations. In this effort, diplomats must maintain constant oversight.

The Castro regime is weak, but not finished. For this reason, the CFC recommends maintaining and expanding targeted sanctions against its repressive agents, and rejecting bills such as the United States-Cuba Trade Act — which would prematurely dismantle the sanctions against the regime — “precisely at a moment when Havana has been exposed for supporting Putin’s war in Ukraine and maintaining hidden military assets in Venezuela.”

Introduced by Democrats James P. McGovern (term ends February 12, 2026) and Ron Wyden (term ends January 16, 2025) — and codified as H.R. 7521 in the House and S. 136 in the Senate — the bill seeks to lift the main restrictions of the embargo, as well as to prohibit limits on remittances and other transactions.

Instead, the CFC argues, the United States should tighten sanctions, apply Magnitsky-style measures against individual repressors, and condition any future relief upon concrete actions. Some of these include: withdrawing all Cuban military and intelligence personnel from Venezuela, Ukraine, and Nicaragua; closing Chinese radar facilities directed against the United States; surrendering terrorists and fugitives from justice; and, on the domestic front, legalizing political parties.

Running counter to Barack Obama’s policy, the CFC maintains that genuine democratic political change will drive economic liberalization — not the other way around. “Decades of European economic engagement — intensified under the 2016 Political Dialogue and Cooperation Agreement — failed to yield democratic reforms, while simultaneously enabling the regime to capture foreign capital through mandatory joint ventures with the military conglomerate GAESA,” the document underscored.

Notwithstanding all external support, however, the real change that will steer Cuba away from its socialist nightmare will come from within. It is a cultural shift that has already crystallized among a number of young evangelicals — currently the most far-reaching independent political voices on the island.

The CFC considers it essential to establish greater unity among Cubans who support democracy. To this end, it recommends forming “informal yet effective working groups (operating through secure channels) that connect internal opposition networks with exile organizations,” in order to “coordinate non-violent civic actions within Cuba with international advocacy, the delivery of humanitarian aid, and legal pressure abroad.” In the realm of non-violent civic actions and the overall internal strategy, the voices of domestic actors will carry the greatest weight.

Along this path — I am certain — the growing Cuban evangelical church will play a significant role. The church in both its senses: as a community of believers, and as an institution. The former to rebuild and administer justice; the latter to foster reconciliation. Both to point toward the ultimate Truth and to reconstitute the philosophical and moral fabric that will restore Cuba to the orbit of the West, and heal the nation of the snares of resentment and envy that socialism has sown for decades.