The National Assembly of People’s Power (ANPP) of Cuba has approved a package of “economic” and “social” reforms that seek to liberalize the island’s economy and counteract the crisis that is shaking it. If implemented as approved, they would represent the biggest change in Cuba’s socialist model since former leader Fidel Castro’s 1959 revolution and a major shift toward a market economy.
With the aim of “invigorating” the development of the country and in correspondence with the Economic and Social Program for the year 2026, announced last week by the Cuban president, Miguel Díaz-Canel, these are supported by 23 axes with 176 transformations that integrate changes in the business fabric, with the emphasis placed on the modernization of productive structures and the diversification of forms of management, among others, as indicated by the prime minister of the island, Manuel Marrero, in a plenary session. extraordinary.
Díaz Canel, during the aforementioned session, stated that Cuba “is living through the most difficult hours of the century” and that “reality imposes urgent necessary changes.” In reference to the blockade imposed by the United States against the island, the message is clear: “If you really want to help, let the country trade, buy its medicines, import fuel, receive investments, credits and financing, and interact normally with their emigrants and with the world.
Historical reforms faithful to the “socialist project”
Regarding the reforms, presented by Prime Minister Manuel Marrero, they would open the door to private real estate development on the island, they would transform state companies into private commercial companies with shares and equity interests, and they would allow private banks to enter the Cuban financial sector, previously dominated by the State.
Marrero, before legislators, has stated that the reforms recognize the market as “an instrument for the efficient allocation of resources”, in a highly unusual concession for an official of the Communist Party in Cuba.
In any case, he has presented the measures as faithful to Cuba’s socialist roots: “These transformations do not constitute a deviation from our socialist project; on the contrary, they respond to its development (…) The fundamental objective of updating the economic and social model is to improve the quality of life of our compatriots.”
