Miguel Díaz-Canel announced on Friday a comprehensive set of economic reforms that, as he promised, will grant greater autonomy to state-owned enterprises, municipalities, and agricultural producers, amid the worst economic crisis Cuba has faced in decades.
The statements were provided to the and were broadcast on the television program "Revista Buenos Días".
The announcement is part of the Economic and Social Program for 2026, which was approved by the Council of Ministers following a public consultation conducted at the end of 2025.
The leader stated that the program was developed with the help of Cuban and international experts, comparing the Island's experience with that of China and Vietnam, and utilizing artificial intelligence tools. He mentioned that more than twenty areas of economic transformation have been identified.
For state-owned companies, Díaz-Canel promised that they will be able to operate "without interference in their management," export and import directly, retain part of the foreign currency earned, choose clients and suppliers, and participate in the foreign exchange market.
"Companies will be able to produce and provide services for everything they are capable of, taking advantage of all their potential without any limits," he stated.
Another of the most striking measures is the expansion of municipalities' autonomy: they will be able to import and export without intermediaries, manage foreign currency, approve investments by Cubans both on and off the Island, and decide which economic actors operate within their territory.
"I believe that the country will always be stronger and will have greater capacity to respond to the extent that the municipalities are also stronger," he stated.
In the agricultural sector, measures were announced to facilitate direct access to input markets, the opening of real accounts in foreign currency, and foreign investment.
In foreign trade, the obligation to use state intermediaries was promised to be eliminated, and tariff benefits would be offered to those importing raw materials. Additionally, the expedited approval of MIPYMES with stalled applications was announced, along with a reduction in the list of prohibited activities for the private sector.
Díaz-Canel's speech was filled with anti-American rhetoric. He attributed the crisis to "a multidimensional aggression as part of a completely aggressive policy of the United States government towards Cuba" and asserted that Washington "cannot forgive that, at this point, despite all the maximum pressure they have exerted, the revolution continues to exist."
The president omitted to mention that on June 4, the State Department imposed direct sanctions on him and his wife, freezing their properties and accounts in U.S. territory.
Promises, however, come with a background that breeds skepticism. Since the Ordering Task in January 2021, the regime has repeatedly promised greater business autonomy, yet this decentralization has not materialized.
In parallel to this week's announcements, the government created the INAEES, a new body that will concentrate the control of more than 2,000 state-owned enterprises under the Council of Ministers. Economist Pedro Monreal warned that this structure could be "the undertaker of enterprises," representing more recentralization than real autonomy.
The CEPAL projects a decline in Cuba's GDP of 6.5% for 2026, while The Economist Intelligence Unit estimates a contraction of 7.2%, far from the 1% growth projected by the government itself.
Blackouts can last between 20 and 30 consecutive hours, and more than a million Cubans have emigrated since 2021.
The public's reaction to the new announcements was one of widespread skepticism, with ironic comments on social media labeling them as "more of the same."
The businessman Carlos Saladrigas has been clear on this matter: there will be no investment in Cuba without a real change in the country's conditions.
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