So is civil society prepared for the future? Probably not. Most organisations have to live HAND to MOUTH, juggling short-term funding and perpetual minor crises. EVEN the bigger ones rarely get much time to stand back and look at the bigger picture. Many are on a TREADMILL CHASING after contracts and new funding.

We need a mobilized and active civil SOCIETY using its PURCHASING power to demand sustainable products and practices. It is ALSO essential that governments commit to the future, creating fiscal and regulatory CONDITIONS for sustainable POLICIES to thrive.

In any civil SOCIETY, there's a SERIOUS PROBLEM when confidence in the rule of law is SHAKEN.

We strongly BELIEVE that individual advocates PLAY an important ROLE in developing a civil society.

I think more civil SOCIETY PROGRAMS, more free enterprise, more CONTACTS with their fellow brethren in Miami - that's good for the LONG-TERM, and that's an investment in America's long-term relationship with the Cuban people, not the Cuban GOVERNMENT.