Lech Wałęsa, Luis Almagro, and former political prisoners discuss Venezuela, Cuba, and the risks of post-regime instability.
Shane Miller | Staff Writer
On Feb 10, the United Human Rights Foundation (UHRF) club’s FIU branch hosted a summit on the process of democratic transitions in communist nations, focusing on Cuba, Venezuela, and post-Soviet states. The summit included several foreign dignitaries, including former Polish President, revolutionary, and Nobel Laureate Lech Wałęsa, former Secretary General of the Organization of American States Luis Almagro, and two recently released political prisoners from Cuba and Venezuela.
The meeting began with questions directed to Wałęsa, who oversaw and led the democratic transition in Poland during the mid to late 1980s. Wałęsa was the founder of the Solidarity movement, a workers’ union from the Leningrad Shipyards in Gdańsk, which eventually forced the Communist government of Poland to negotiate a transition to Democracy in 1989.
Wałęsa was the first democratically elected President of Poland since World War 2, but he lost re-election in 1995. He founded a think-tank institute named after him in 1995, and the Gdańsk airport also bears his name.
He began by discussing how the Solidarity movement began. “My friends were clear that they wanted a change; however, leaders were needed to guide them along this process. So they decided to become those leaders. Most other leaders believed only an ‘atomic bomb’ could lead to change, but I decided I could do it through peace.”
Wałęsa also noted how, at the time, Poland had a particular “enemy from within”- nationalists who wanted unity and stability, but no change in the system of government. However, Solidarity quickly gained their support, too, as “those who didn’t believe in change began to believe”.
He stated that the most dangerous part of the transition process is what happens immediately after the former regime is removed from power. During this period, Wałęsa notes that civil war is very likely and that you must be ready for whatever comes after an initial victory.
The meeting proceeded with a recently released Venezuelan political prisoner who only identified as Pedro. Pedro was released by the Maduro government in the fall of 2025, and during the meeting also represented Maria Corina Machado, the leading Venezuelan Opposition figure who many presume would be the most likely candidate to be the first post-Maduro President of Venezuela.
Pedro began by talking about a fellow political prisoner, Padrino. He praised a UHRF-led program that supported political prisoners, because “I know how easy it is to be forgotten as a prisoner”. Pedro also noted that he sponsors prisoners in Russia through this program.
He then went on to describe the situation inside the country now that former Dictator Nicolas Maduro and his wife have been captured by the US Military and removed from power. The regime, he says, “has realized now that it is not as strong as it was, and that its lies are coming to light (to the public)”.
“What is left is an oppressive apparatus-a weak one, but it’s still there. They are at their weakest point, and thus the opposition leaders are doing their due diligence to defeat them”. Pedro also stated that, despite the Maduro government’s rigging of the last Presidential election, the results showed the opposition was the clear majority, and they could afford to resist the government rather than resort to violence.
He also stated that a true democratic transition for Venezuela will not happen unless safety for Opposition leader María Corina Machado is achieved and all prisoners are granted amnesty and released from Venezuela’s prison system.
The meeting concluded with the former Head of the OAS, Luis Almagro. Almagro began by noting how Venezuela produces the largest number of media personalities of any South American country, and therefore any changes in Venezuela have massive potential ramifications for the rest of the region.
However, Almagro believes the current Venezuelan interim government led by former Maduro-era Vice President Delcy Rodríguez will not bring honesty and transparency in the wake of Maduro’s capture. “Honesty and transparency being expected now is illogical, because the leadership now is not enough.”
Almagro also noted how regimes such as those in Venezuela were once being normalized, but he was thankful they were finally being “exposed for what they truly are”. He concluded by telling the crowd not to underestimate these regimes.
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