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A group of five independent Cuban economists has been working for months on a comprehensive proposal for economic transformation in Cuba, separate from the regime and with no ties to the advisory team that Miguel Díaz-Canel recently convened to seek solutions to the crisis.
The project, called Cuba Transformación, was announced this Monday by economist Pedro Monreal González on Substack and on his account on the social network X.
According to the explanation, the group has been working since March 2026. In addition to Monreal, the team also includes Mauricio De Miranda Parrondo, Omar Everleny Pérez Villanueva, Ricardo Torres Pérez, and Pavel Vidal Alejandro.
This collective is completely different from the group that Díaz-Canel gathered on June 17 to advise him on the official reform package.
Omar Everleny appears in both groups, but Cuba Transformación does not work for the government nor evaluates its measures, operating with its own methodology and aiming for a scenario of institutional and political change.
"Although we have, like everyone else, become aware of the economic measures recently announced by the Cuban government, the proposal we are developing does not represent a specific assessment of those decisions nor is it directly derived from them," Monreal clarified in his publication.
Contrast with the official group
The advisory team of Díaz-Canel was summoned directly from the leader's office and includes critical economists such as Juan Triana and Julio Carranza; as well as figures from the state apparatus like José Luis Rodríguez García, former Minister of Economy, and José Carlos del Toro Ríos, president of the National Association of Economists.
Cuba Transformación, on the other hand, emphasizes its intellectual independence and does not respond to any authority of the regime.
The proposal from the independent group envisions the transformation in three phases:
- Stabilization and emergency measures
- Productive and institutional recovery
- Construction of a medium and long-term development strategy
In this initial stage, the work focuses on the first phase, driven by the urgency to correct macroeconomic imbalances and address the most pressing issues facing the population.
The horizon they propose goes far beyond the adjustments that the regime has presented as reforms.
"We believe that a successful process of economic transformation requires an orderly sequence of changes that allows progress toward a social market economy, supported by a democratic rule of law capable of combining economic growth, social inclusion, protection of citizens' rights, and institutional strengthening," Monreal wrote.
The project arises during the worst economic moment in Cuba in decades. The GDP has experienced a contraction of over 23% since 2019, with projections of further decline ranging from 7.2% to 15% by 2026.
The country suffers from power outages of up to 30 hours a day, extreme shortages of food and medicine, rampant inflation, and a massive migration exodus.
The regime responded to that crisis with the announcement, on June 12, of an economic program with six key areas, and with the approval, on June 18 and 19, of a package of 176 measures in the National Assembly.
Monreal had described those reforms as "late pragmatism" and "an outdated ploy". He warned that "the numbers don't add up, and the government wants to make it seem like it's not a mathematical issue, but a matter of will."
The group clarified that their proposal is not intended to be a closed or definitive response: "We aspire for this work to contribute to a broader, more inclusive, and responsible discussion about Cuba's economic future."
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