Statement by Cuba Transition Coordinator Caleb McCarry

I want to also thank my friend and mentor, Roger Noriega, for his confidence in me. I thank the Members of Congress, my colleagues and friends, and all the representatives of the Cuban-American community for being here today.  Most of all, I want to thank my wife and our wonderful children for their love and support.

The United States of America is and will always be the friend of the Cuban people. The report of the Commission for Assistance to a Free Cuba is an intelligent, generous and, above all, respectful offer and commitment of support to the Cuban people.

While the dictatorship formulates its plans to perpetuate itself in power in darkness, the Commission’s report is a public document. It is not an imposition, but a comprehensive statement of what the United States is prepared to do to help the Cuban people secure the liberty and prosperity that are their right.

For 46 years, the dictatorship has willfully and cruelly divided the Cuban family. It will be Cubans—brave souls on the island itself and from around the world—who will determine the future of a free Cuba. It is the responsibility of the civilized world to act to see that the Cuban family is reunited under political and economic freedom.