Rosa Payá

Cuban human-rights and democracy activist, founder of the Cuba Decide initiative, and Inter-American Commission on Human Rights commissioner for the 2026–2029 term. She is known for advocating a democratic transition in Cuba and continuing the civic-democracy work associated with her father, Oswaldo Payá.

Cuba’s Opposition Says Democratic Change Can Be Forced Within 12 Months

Cuban opposition leader Rosa María Payá tells H. R. McMaster that Cuba’s humanitarian collapse is also a political opening: the regime, she argues, survives by force, foreign patronage, military control of the economy, and regional repression, not by consent. In a Hoover Institution conversation, Payá says democratic change can be generated within 12 months if outside pressure on regime elites is paired with recognition of a prepared opposition alternative and direct support for Cubans demanding freedom.

Hoover InstitutionMay 13, 202618 min read