Cuba Agrees to Economic Reforms Amid US Pressure
The Communist Party of Cuba (PCC) approved a package of reforms on Wednesday aimed at opening more sectors to private investment. The reform process was decided upon amid increasing economic pressure from the United States, frequent power outages, and resource shortages in the country.
President and First Secretary of the country’s sole legal political party, Miguel Diaz-Canel, first outlined the plan over the weekend.
The PCC Central Committee held an extraordinary plenary session on Wednesday to evaluate the proposals. Through social media, the party stated that the changes are “a manifestation of the logic of development in this historical period,” and stressed that the measures “in no way represent a deviation from the socialist agenda.”
The party also repeatedly stated that Raul Castro, the 95-year-old brother of revolutionary leader Fidel Castro who is still widely seen as a behind-the-scenes power holder, at least symbolically, had been consulted and approved the proposals. Castro participated via video link but was not present in person.
Castro “fully agreed” with the economic reforms proposed by Diaz-Canel and “he is convinced that the best ideas always emerge from collective analysis, even from differences of opinion,” PCC Political Bureau member Jose Amado Ricardo Guerra told the session. The head of the party’s ideology department, Yuniaski Crespo Baquero, echoed the party line by calling the measures a response to “the economic war that Cuba is facing.” However, he also praised the reforms as a “homegrown, creative, daring, and revolutionary response.”
Although the proposals from President Miguel Diaz-Canel have not been detailed in depth, they promise a broad impact. Key aspects include allowing new actors to operate in the tourism sector using a new model, encouraging foreign direct investment particularly from Cubans living abroad, expanding the private sector, revitalising key sectors such as agriculture, foreign trade, and housing, and decentralising decision-making by granting more autonomy to state-owned enterprises and local governments.
The reform drive is partly seen as a response to a long-term, gradual economic decline and growing public discontent, a situation worsened by a severe economic downturn over the last six years, though its roots go back much further. The process has been significantly accelerated by increased economic and political pressure from the United States since the beginning of the year. The Trump administration has demanded comprehensive political and economic reforms from Havana and has openly floated ideas of regime change or some form of intervention, similar to actions taken in Venezuela with the kidnapping and detention of President Nicolas Maduro. The US has also indicted Raul Castro on murder charges related to an alleged involvement in a plane crash.
The next step to enact these changes into law is approval from the National Assembly of People’s Power (ANPP), the country’s unicameral parliament and sole legislative body. The ANPP is scheduled to hold a session to discuss the plan on Thursday.