The Cuban State Council approved two decrees-laws this Thursday during an extraordinary session, as part of the process of implementing the economic and social transformations of the regime.
Granma reported that these are the decrees related to the "Cuban State Business System" and the "Modification of Decree Law No. 76 on Agricultural Cooperatives." The response was immediate: skepticism, frustration, and widespread confusion.
The session was presided over by Esteban Lazo Hernández, President of the Council of State, who emphasized that the first decree "reinforces the socialist state enterprise as the main entity of the national economy" and expands the autonomy of state enterprises. Both regulations will be published in the Official Gazette for the public's awareness.
Roberto Ricardo Marrero, president of the newly established Instituto Nacional de Activos Empresariales Estatales (INAEES), stated that the regulation "addresses 16 of the 17 transformations related to Thematic Axis 1" and "facilitates the implementation of 12 transformations from other axes."
As the regime celebrated the approval of the decrees, Cubans responded in the comments section of the news on social media with a mix of irony and frustration.
“The same dog with a different collar”, wrote a user. “And now what’s the invention?”, asked another bluntly.
Several commentators pointed out the contradiction between the ambitions of the reform and the daily reality of the country.
"For any economic transformation, it is essential to create minimum conditions: electricity, water, fuel. How are those measures supposed to work? By magic?" one questioned.
The doubt about the practical utility of the law was echoed in dozens of comments. "Many decrees and laws each year, but nothing is actually enforced"; "The more decrees they create, the deeper the country sinks and the better the leaders live."
A reader summed up the accumulated distrust regarding the regime's policies: "It's a matter of give and take. The decrees and laws are the most changeable in Cuba and are what generate the least confidence."
There were also those who questioned the approval process. "Why was the decree approved without being brought to the National Assembly, which is on July 29? Among decrees, axes, objectives, measures, and actions, they have created a labyrinth of categories with incomprehensible language to deceive the people."
The new decrees are part of the largest package of economic reforms approved in Cuba in decades: the 176 measures ratified by the National Assembly on June 18 and 19, 2026, grouped into 23 thematic axes.
"If living by reforms and guidelines were the norm, Cuba would be the capital of the world," concluded a user, with a phrase that encapsulates decades of unfulfilled promises.
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