The economist Elías Amor raised alarms this Thursday while analyzing one of the most controversial proposals from the Extraordinary Plenary of the PCC Central Committee held on Wednesday: the exchange of external debt for Cuban national assets, a formula that Miguel Díaz-Canel presented as part of his agenda of 23 axes and 176 economic transformation proposals.
Díaz-Canel stated that Cuba must "lead a process of debt-for-assets exchange," clarifying that the goal would be "the exchange of national assets for debts without permanently alienating ownership of the same."
The phrase, spoken before the Central Committee of the Communist Party, was enough to make Amor react with alarm during his interview at CiberCuba.
"I was left stunned when Díaz-Canel said, 'we must undertake a process of exchanging debt for assets.' Are they going to sell the keys?" exclaimed the economist, before asking, "What assets does the communist regime have that are worth exchanging for debt?"
Amor explained with a concrete example how the formula would work in practice. "You are looking for a formula that is: I owe you, Switzerland, 2 billion, so I'm going to give you two keys in the Canarreos so that you can establish your tourist business there. You don't have to pay me anything; you can keep them for 50 years, 100 years, but I have already paid you what I owe and we are at peace."
The economist warned that the difference between a temporary concession and a real transfer of assets may be more subtle than it appears, drawing a direct parallel with the Greek sovereign debt crisis. "One thing is to grant those islets to Switzerland for 50 years, and another is to sell those islets to Switzerland, as we know has happened in Europe. In Greece, during the 2008 crisis, the Greeks had to sell territory to meet their debts."
During that crisis, Athens privatized strategic assets—ports, land, services—as a condition for the bailouts from the European Union and the International Monetary Fund. The port of Piraeus was granted to the Chinese company COSCO, in a process that many sectors of Greek society experienced as a ceding of economic sovereignty.
The context of Cuba's debt makes the proposal even more delicate. Cuba agreed in January 2025 to renegotiate the terms of its debt with the Paris Club, after failing to meet the payment agreements made in 2015 since 2019-2020, when it received a forgiveness of 8.5 billion dollars on a total debt of 11 billion. Independent analysts estimate that Cuba's total debt could exceed 100% of GDP, well above official figures.
Amor emphasized that the concrete implementation of these measures will be crucial. "We must remain very attentive to how these measures are executed, which must under no circumstances result in aggression against the national sovereignty of the Cubans."
The economist described the plan as "a toast to the sun" and "an empty proclamation," noting that it has technical and political flaws that will prevent the stated objectives from being achieved. Alongside the interview, he published an 11-page written analysis on his blog regarding the proposals from the Plenary.
While the regime presents the reforms as a historic transformation, the Cuban peso continues to decline and Cubans respond with skepticism to each new promise of change.
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