A journalist from the state-run Escambray, the official organ of the Communist Party in Sancti Spíritus, published a self-critical article in which she directly points to the Cuban system itself as responsible for decades of obstacles and prohibitions that have sunk the country.
Elsa Ramos, author of the text titled "The Urgency of Change to Uplift a Country," published on July 13, states that many of the 176 economic measures approved by the regime in June merely serve to "legalize the illegal, remove prohibitions that were not imported and that eroded the system and even credibility, and suppress bureaucratically Cuban structural obstacles and distortions."
The most striking phrase of the article points directly to the internal responsibility of the regime: the reforms, Ramos writes, aim to "mitigate the internal blockade that has done us much harm."
The journalist also questions why the regime waited 15 years to implement proposals that have been included in the Guidelines of the Economic and Social Policy of the Party since 2011, which are now being presented as urgent solutions to the collapse.
It vividly describes the harsh reality faced by Cubans: extensive blackouts, spoiled food, "cards filled with money but hands without cash," pockets unable to cope with rising prices, and a lack of water, medications, and connectivity.
Despite acknowledging the historical delay, Ramos defends the reforms with resignation: "Better late than never, as the Cuban economy is on the brink and has few options left but to give it a try," and he adds: "A country cannot rely on fuel arriving from ship to ship; nor can it depend on solidarity donations..."
The article also warns about specific risks associated with the measures. It notes that thousands of workers have been in a "labor limbo" as indefinite interrupts since February 2026, and it questions how the regime plans to curb the unemployment that will result from restructuring the business and budgetary sectors.
Regarding the liberalization of prices, she is skeptical: she remembers that the State was never able to enforce even the rates it set itself, while the informal market operated impudently "through all social networks."
Ramos raises a question that encapsulates the accumulated distrust: "How do we solve the equation that each person will have what they are capable of producing in a country where reselling candies is more profitable than working hard in the sun?"
The text from the reporter from Espiritu is not an isolated case.
On July 9, Iraida Calzadilla, a retired journalist from the newspaper Granma, published a passionate message on Facebook against the Electric Union and the government, challenging Díaz-Canel's official slogan: "I want to see who dares to ask me for more creative resistance when basic and even some non-basic needs are not being adequately met."
This trend of critical voices emerging from within the regime's own media apparatus carries particular symbolic weight: they are neither dissenters nor opponents, but journalists who defended the system for decades and are now publicly questioning it.
Díaz-Canel himself acknowledged in June, during the Extraordinary Plenary of the Central Committee of the PCC, that there are “obstacles that do not come from outside or from the blockade” and that “resistance alone is not enough,” which constituted an unprecedented admission after six decades of revolution.
The context in which these criticisms are published is devastating. On Tuesday, July 14, Cuba experienced another massive blackout following the total disconnection of the National Electric System at 11:05 AM. This was the fifth total blackout recorded this year and the tenth in approximately 24 months.
In the financial realm, the dollar exceeds 600 pesos in the informal market, while the official exchange rate remains at one for 24.
The 176 measures, organized into 23 strategic axes and approved on June 18 and 19, include the authorization of private banking, the removal of the 100-worker limit for small and medium enterprises, and the transformation of state-owned enterprises into commercial companies.
Analysts point out, however, that the creation of INAEES—a superregulatory body—contradicts the official discourse of business autonomy and indicates a covert recentralization.
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