Miguel Díaz-Canel announced on Friday a package of economic reforms, in what the regime calls “Economic and Social Program for 2026”, for which he also requested that the opinions of the public be taken into account.
"Anyone who has a better idea and a better proposal should speak up, and it will always be considered," he stated, although he clarified that the measures have already been agreed upon and are ready to be approved "in a very swift manner."
Among the most notable measures is allowing municipalities to import and export directly without intermediaries and to manage foreign investment themselves.
Díaz-Canel explained it this way: "The municipality will be able to import and export without the need for higher structures. It will manage income in foreign currency and handle foreign investment, whether with companies or with Cubans residing abroad."
It also announced that state-owned enterprises will operate "without interference in their management," will retain foreign currency, and will choose their clients and suppliers, while Cubans residing abroad will be able to invest on equal terms with foreign actors.
Other measures include the gradual elimination of subsidies for products, replacing them with targeted subsidies for vulnerable individuals, reducing the list of prohibited activities for the private sector, expedited approval of stalled MIPYMES, implementation of electronic invoicing, and relaxing import restrictions on vehicles, prioritizing electric ones.
The openness to debate proclaimed by Díaz-Canel before the official press this Friday is contradictory: the proposals are already in the final approval phase by the Political Bureau and the National Assembly, which reveals the cosmetic nature of that invitation to participate.
The president himself justified the opacity of the process with a telling statement: "We cannot say everything so clearly because the enemy is watching everything we do."
In terms of energy, he acknowledged that "in the last five months, only one oil ship has arrived in Cuba," attributing the crisis to the U.S. embargo, which he described as a "criminal energy blockade."
This is the worst economic moment for Cuba in decades, with the GDP accumulating a decline of over 15% since 2020 and projections of additional contraction ranging from 6.5% to 15% for this year, according to ECLAC, The Economist Intelligence Unit, and economist Pedro Monreal, who warned in May of the most pessimistic scenario.
The context in which these reforms are introduced is devastating for the population: blackouts of up to 30 hours a day in several provinces, extreme scarcity of food and medicine, and an unprecedented mass exodus.
The pattern of announcements without effective implementation is recurrent in the dictatorship: Díaz-Canel had already called for an "immediate" reform of the economic model in March with no visible results, and the "Tarea Ordenamiento" of 2021 generated rampant inflation that worsened the living conditions of Cubans.
The measures announced this Friday, according to him, will be discussed and approved "very quickly" in the coming days, and then explained to the public through all the ministries, although the regime's history provides few reasons for optimism.
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