Miguel Díaz-Canel established a new advisory group of five economists —including critical figures and those not aligned with the government— to seek more ambitious economic reform proposals than those already publicly announced.
The EFE agency confirmed the initiative through three sources. The team held an initial meeting on Friday, June 13, and its first proposal session was this Tuesday.
In parallel, there is an institutional process underway to present the reforms to the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Cuba (PCC) this Wednesday, and they must be approved on Thursday in the National Assembly, convened in an extraordinary session.
The most striking aspect of the initiative is its origin. According to EFE, it came directly from the office of the ruler, without involving the teams of Prime Minister Manuel Marrero or Minister of Economy and Planning Joaquín Alonso, which underscores the politically sensitive nature of the movement.
The core of the group consists of three economists who have expressed reformist views in independent media for years and in some cases have been out of official circles for a long time: Omar Everleny, Juan Triana, and Julio Carranza.
Triana warned in July 2024 about the mistakes of Díaz-Canel in the Cuban economy, while Carranza has advocated for reducing hyper-centralized planning and expanding business autonomy.
The other two members represent the ruling party: José Luis Rodríguez García, former Minister of Economics from 1995 to 2009, and José Carlos del Toro Ríos, president of the National Association of Economists and Accountants (ANEC), both of whom are deputies in the National Assembly.
The five experts have differing viewpoints, but they agree on general guidelines such as:
- give more weight to the private sector
- open the island to foreign investment
- grant greater autonomy to state-owned enterprises
- promote local production
- to resolve the monetary chaos that creates distortions with two currencies, three official exchange rates, and one informal rate.
The group is working based on the reform package that Díaz-Canel announced on June 12, titled "Economic and Social Program for 2026," structured around six pillars: economic management system, municipal autonomy, business autonomy, agricultural recovery, foreign trade and foreign investment, and social policy.
Among the most notable measures is allowing municipalities to import and export without intermediaries, enabling state-owned enterprises to operate without bureaucratic interference and retain foreign currency, and allowing Cubans residing abroad to invest on equal terms with foreign actors.
The context in which this advisory group emerges is one of extreme crisis. Since January 2026, Washington has almost entirely blocked the entry of oil and derivatives into Cuba—Díaz-Canel himself acknowledged that "in the last five months, only one oil tanker has been allowed to enter."
U.S. policies have also led to the withdrawal of hotel companies, shipping lines, airlines, and international banks due to fears of secondary sanctions related to their connections with GAESA.
The economist Pedro Monreal described the reforms as "late pragmatism" and warned that Cuba "has missed the train of reforms from China and Vietnam," a statement that encapsulates the skepticism of many analysts regarding measures that come after years of accumulated deterioration.
The call by critical economists to the presidential environment is unprecedented in the recent history of the Cuban dictatorship and contrasts with the usual pattern of exclusively internal consultations within the PCC.
However, the process for approving the reforms remains the same as always: the Central Committee of the PCC will evaluate them this Wednesday, and the National Assembly —which unanimously ratifies the proposals it receives— will approve them on Thursday. Cubans will not be able to directly express their opinions on the country's direction.
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