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For the secretary general of the Organization of American States (OAS), Albert Ramdin, Cuba has a system that has not worked after nearly 70 years. Speaking on November 3 in Madrid, he said it is normal to evaluate and rethink such a system, and that the time to do so is now.
He spoke at the event where Rosa María Payá presented a transition plan for the island, a day before the 30th Ibero-American Summit. Ramdin spoke in English, and this report is based on the simultaneous Spanish interpretation of his remarks. He made clear that he was speaking as OAS secretary general and not on behalf of the member states, because the matter has not been discussed among the countries. He said that for him this is not a political issue but one of principle, and that when the pillars of the organization (democracy, human rights, the right to development and security) are at stake, it is necessary to speak.
Albert Ramdin: Cuba and the one-party system
Ramdin said a system that has not worked after nearly 70 years should be evaluated and rethought, and that this is the reality in Cuba. The ideas may have been good at the start, he said, but it is known that they have not worked.
He argued that a one-party system never works, that democracy requires a multiparty system, and that one-party rule almost always ends in tyranny. He regretted that the OAS has lost Nicaragua and that Cuba and Venezuela are non-active states, and said he would be very happy if all three countries returned to the organization.
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A peaceful transition, civic space and political prisoners
Ramdin said he does not advocate a violent transition or change through military force, because that would go against the character and the laws of the OAS, and he defended a peaceful process based on dialogue and communication. He acknowledged that the system is more deeply rooted in Cuba than in Venezuela and Nicaragua. Among the elements of a transition he mentioned opening civic space and the unconditional release of all political prisoners, and he insisted that it must be led by Cubans and benefit Cubans. It is not for him, he added, to determine who is Cuban.
He closed by saying that the OAS was created to help and stand on the side of democracy, and that it will be ready to help the process. He acknowledged that there will be political discussions and that he will follow instructions on that front, but noted that he has his own point of view.
Cuba and the OAS: from the 1962 exclusion to non-active status
The OAS excluded the Government of Cuba from the inter-American system on January 31, 1962, in Punta del Este. The General Assembly revoked that resolution on June 3, 2009, in San Pedro Sula, but made Cuba’s participation dependent on a dialogue process started at the request of its government and in keeping with the practices, purposes and principles of the organization.
Nicaragua, the other country Ramdin mentioned, left the OAS on November 19, 2023, when its withdrawal from the OAS Charter took effect.
The transition plan presented in Madrid
The event, titled «Cuba en el umbral», took place at the Hotel Wellington in Madrid, on the eve of the 30th Ibero-American Summit, scheduled for November 4 and 5. Payá and Pasos de Cambio presented a team and a phased roadmap, with a provisional government of limited duration that is meant to lead to free elections. The plan stems from the Liberation Accord, signed on March 2, 2026, in Miami by Pasos de Cambio and the Assembly of the Cuban Resistance.
Read our full coverage of the Cuba transition plan presentation.
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