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The Cuban Prime Minister Manuel Marrero Cruz reaffirmed on Wednesday his support for the package of 176 economic and social transformations approved by the regime, stating on his social media account X that "economic transformations are inseparable from social ones" and that the goal is to "preserve our achievements and revive the economy in pursuit of the people's well-being."
The message, accompanied by the cover of the official document "Economic and Social Transformations" dated June 2026, reiterates a phrase that Marrero pronounced before the National Assembly during the extraordinary session on June 19: "The humanistic vocation of the Cuban Revolution places the human being, their well-being and development as the most important center and objective."
The package of 176 measures, organized into 23 thematic axes, represents the most significant attempt at structural reform by the regime since the Special Period of the 1990s and was approved with the explicit backing of Raúl Castro, who participated via videoconference in the Extraordinary Plenary of the Communist Party of Cuba.
Among the most significant changes is the authorization of private banking and private exchange houses under the supervision of the Central Bank, the removal of the 100-worker limit for small and medium-sized enterprises, the possibility for an individual to own multiple businesses, and the opening of the private sector to import and market fuels.
In the social sphere, the measures include an increase in the minimum wage in the budgeted sector from 2,100 to 3,210 pesos —a rise of 53%— starting in August 2026, which would benefit 51% of the workforce, according to official figures without independent verification.
The approval of multiple employment and reduced work hours is also granted, along with the gradual replacement of universal subsidies with targeted assistance for retirees and vulnerable individuals, and the creation of the digital platform "Soberanía" to identify households in precarious situations.
The structure of the State will be reduced from 27 to 21 ministries, and the National Institute of State Business Assets (INAEES) will be created as a new oversight body for the state business system.
Despite the official discourse, Marrero acknowledged on June 30 that the main obstacle to implementing the reforms is the state apparatus itself, demanding a change in mindset among the regime's cadres.
The popular reaction on social media has been distinctly skeptical. In response to the official discourse of "saving the Revolution," thousands of Cubans have replied with phrases like "they want to save themselves" or "download them and eat them and light themselves with them," referring to the slow implementation of the measures.
The regime insists that the 176 measures do not imply a renunciation of socialism, but rather its "enhancement," summarized in the formula that Marrero has repeated multiple times: "doing what is necessary to preserve the essential".
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