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The Cuban writer, linguist, and translator Rodolfo Alpízar reacted with sarcasm this Saturday to the expedited approval of the 176 economic measures of the Cuban regime and demanded that this same "boldness and efficiency" be immediately applied to political changes that the regime has been ignoring for decades.
In a Facebook post, Alpízar mocked the speed with which the National Assembly processed the largest package of structural reforms since the Special Period: "Our deputies, who were democratically elected and represent us with dignity, as is well known, managed to read all the measures, analyze them, and verify that there were no contradictions with the Constitution, and in less than a working day, approved each and every one of them, as not a single comma was left out or added."
The linguist's sarcasm pointed directly to the speed of the process: the extraordinary session was called with just 48 hours notice through Agreement 599-X/2026 of the Council of State, and the 176 measures were approved on June 19 in record time.
"What efficiency. Now we are truly turning the national economy around. Great," wrote Alpízar, before posing the question that underpins his entire argument: "But..., what about the rest?"
For the writer, saving the country requires much more than economic adjustments, and he called for an immediate extraordinary meeting to address four specific demands.
The first: that the constitutional articles on freedom of expression and peaceful assembly be put into effect, which he described as "dead letters" for the rulers.
The second: a presidential decree for total amnesty for all political prisoners. Alpízar was explicit in making the distinction: "Not a pardon, not a release: total amnesty for all political prisoners and free reintegration into society." According to the organization Prisoners Defenders, Cuba had 1,260 political prisoners at the end of April 2026, and the pardon announced by the regime in April of that year for 2,010 people included only two political prisoners identified by human rights organizations.
The third demand: the reinstatement of those who were removed from their jobs for expressing dissent against the authorities or the political system.
The fourth, and most ambitious: the call for a plebiscite with transparency and international observation, featuring four yes or no questions regarding the makeup of the government, the presidency, the electoral law, and the single-party system. "None of this undermines national sovereignty; on the contrary, it reaffirms it, as sovereignty resides with the people. I hope they do not continue to forget this," he concluded.
The voice of Alpízar adds to that of other analysts who have questioned the real extent of the reforms. Researcher José Raúl Gallego published a critical analysis of the 176 measures on Friday, concluding that "none focus on the country's sociopolitical system, which leaves the root cause of all of Cuba's problems untouched." Gallego also warned that the opening to private capital could mainly benefit the ruling elite, replicating the oligarchic model of the ex-Soviet republics, and questioned why the reforms are now coming under pressure from Washington rather than when citizens called for them for decades: "who is the bad guy here?"
The context in which these reforms are taking place is that of the worst economic crisis in Cuba in decades. CEPAL projects a decline in GDP of 6.5% in 2026, following a contraction of 3.8% in 2025, while Cubans endure power outages lasting between 20 and 40 consecutive hours and chronic shortages of food and medicine. Economist Pedro Monreal cautioned in May that the GDP could fall by as much as 15% in a scenario of persistent inflation and energy crisis.
Alpízar, who on June 13 had already directed a public message to Miguel Díaz-Canel with five political demands under the hashtags #AmnistíaYa, #Artículo56Ya, #PatriaSinPenaDeMuerte, #TransparenciaYa, and #PlebiscitoYa, concluded his post by stating that his complete proposal is “feasible if the government and the party truly want to save the country” and that it is elaborated in an article published in CubaXCuba. “Without asking for the moon or the stars, we have the right to demand from the rulers and political leaders of the country, suddenly so bold and efficient, that they do not stop, that they continue,” he wrote.
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