Cuba announces reforms to liberalize its economy in the face of US sanctions
MADRID, 13 Jun. (EUROPA PRESS) - The president of Cuba, Miguel Díaz-Canel, announced this Friday a package of structural reforms aimed at liberalizing the island's economy, inspired by the market economy models of China and Vietnam, with the goal of counteracting the impact of economic and energy sanctions by the Trump administration.
The Cuban leader, in statements to the press, unexpectedly presented the so-called 'Economic and Social Program for 2026', a plan designed as a strategic response to the "multidimensional aggression" from the White House. The project, which seeks to make the current system of centralized planned economy more flexible, contemplates greater openness to the private sector, participation of public companies in the foreign exchange market, authorization of investments by Cuban citizens abroad, and bureaucratic reduction to stimulate national production.
"Every opportunity in the midst of a crisis must be seized as a moment of takeoff, as a moment of growth. So, we have established a set of priorities to face this entire situation," the Cuban president assured.
The reform still requires approval from the Politburo of the Communist Party and the National Assembly of Cuba. After that, the president assures, an "informative" and "explanatory" process for the population will begin.
(The program) "has to do with the system of economic management. There is a whole set of measures or actions that are proposed that will allow resolving old contradictions we have between the Plan, between central planning and stimuli, incentives," Díaz-Canel explained from Havana.
Thus, the measures presented by the Cuban leader come after the economic pressure on Cuba in recent months driven by the Trump administration, with the aim of forcing political and economic reforms on the island. This pressure, according to Díaz-Canel, "is having an impact that complicates the daily life of Cubans."
Recently, Washington has sanctioned the president of Cuba and four other people including his predecessor, Raúl Castro. All this amid the escalation of pressures against the island, especially since the beginning of the year, through a 'de facto' blockade on fuel, something the island's leader has referred to as a "collective punishment" that, in his opinion, amounts to an "act of genocide."
