Miguel Díaz-Canel appeared this Thursday before the Third Extraordinary Session of the X Legislature of the National Assembly of People's Power and declared himself open to receiving criticism, within the framework of the approval of a package of 176 economic and social measures that the regime presented as the most ambitious response to the Cuban crisis since the opening to Mipymes in 2021.
The rhetorical opening of the leader responds to the real dynamics of the process in which an emergency economic package was presented, including unprecedented free market measures aimed at revitalizing the island's weakened economy, within a context of increasing pressure from the United States.
The proposals had already been endorsed on Wednesday by the Extraordinary Plenary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Cuba, one day before the deputies formally debated them.
In less than a week, the package went from the presidential announcement —on June 12— to the approval of the PCC and parliamentary ratification.
In his speech, Díaz-Canel acknowledged that the so-called "creative resistance" is no longer sufficient to sustain the country.
"We owe the homeland to the resistance, but today the resistance alone is not enough," he stated. He also acknowledged that the obstacles are not only external: "There are hindrances that do not come from outside or from blockades. There is slowness, bureaucracy, regulations that hinder those who want to produce."
The leader elevated food to the status of national security with a straightforward phrase: "There is no sovereignty with an empty plate."
He also acknowledged that some of the measures "will not have absolute consensus," but he described them as "urgent."
The prime minister Manuel Marrero Cruz presented the package before the chamber organized into five fronts: macroeconomic stabilization, transformation of the economic model, agricultural recovery, cost management, and mitigation of social impacts.
Among the approved measures is the elimination of key limits for mipymes, including the cap on the number of employees and the restriction of one business per person.
Foreign direct investment in the private sector was also authorized, the non-state sector was allowed to import and sell fuels, and the removal of general price limits was announced.
Another measure of direct impact on the population is that the basic basket will no longer be universal and will be restricted to vulnerable groups such as retirees. Additionally, the reduction of the number of ministries from 27 to between 20 and 21 has been approved.
Raúl Castro participated in the session via videoconference, as reported by Radio Reloj, which was interpreted as a political endorsement from the historic leader of the reform package.
The session was broadcast live by Canal Caribe and accumulated over 29,700 views on Facebook, along with hundreds of comments from citizens closely following the measures amid blackouts, food shortages, and lack of medications.
Independent critics questioned both the substance and the manner of the process. The economist Pedro Monreal referred to the package as "late pragmatism," while the opposition figure Manuel Cuesta Morúa described it as "late Chinese reforms."
CEPAL projects a decline in Cuba's GDP of 6.5% in 2026 and a cumulative contraction of 10.3% in the two-year period of 2025-2026, marking the current crisis as the deepest since the Special Period of the 1990s.
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