Miguel Díaz-Canel acknowledged on Monday that the Cuban economic model has relied for decades on the support of the Soviet Union, China, and Venezuela, and stated that the time has come for the country to move forward "on its own effort" and without depending on foreign allies.
The statement was made during an interview granted to the Russian state channel RT en Español, in which the leader defended the economic reforms promoted by the regime to confront the worst crisis the island has experienced since the Special Period.
"The moment has arrived when we will be able, through our own efforts and our own talents, to be independent and to advance without sacrificing our principles. But to achieve that, we need to adapt and make a series of decisions," he declared.
In response to a question about the economic measures that could increase social inequality, Díaz-Canel reflected on the recent history of the regime and acknowledged the dependence that has characterized the Cuban economy.
"We too were almost trapped in a glass bubble, highly dependent on the trade we had with the countries of the socialist bloc, particularly the Soviet Union. Later, when we moved past that phase, we also became dependent on our relations with other friendly countries, such as China or others like Venezuela," he stated.
The leader initially responded that the decisions made by the Government create a personal conflict for him.
"Of course it hurts me, primarily because it goes against the principles that one has developed and been educated in," he said.
To justify the current economic course, he invoked the precedent set by Fidel Castro during the Special Period.
According to Díaz-Canel, Castro acknowledged "without reservation" how difficult it was to accept "practices typical of capitalism" in order to keep the system afloat.
"Above all, it was about saving the revolution," he recalled.
The consequences of the reforms
The leader also acknowledged that the measures taken in the 1990s had social effects that still persist today.
He recalled that the decriminalization of holding foreign currencies “began to create social inequalities” and attributed the rise of phenomena such as prostitution and increased drug consumption to the opening up of tourism.
"Prostitution has proliferated, which for us, in light of the entire process of women's emancipation experienced during the revolution, is a very painful phenomenon that we are still confronting," she stated.
An acknowledgment amidst the energy crisis
The statements come amid a profound economic and energy crisis.
In the same interview, Díaz-Canel acknowledged that Cuba has gone six months without receiving fuel from Venezuela and that, during this period, only one ship from Russia has arrived as humanitarian aid.
"It has been six months since a fuel ship has arrived; only a Russian ship came for humanitarian aid," he stated.
The fuel shortage has worsened power outages affecting a significant part of the country and has compelled the Government to implement the most extensive economic reform package since the 1990s.
Among the 176 measures approved by the National Assembly in June are the authorization of private banking, the elimination of worker limits for small and medium-sized enterprises, and the expansion of foreign investment in various sectors.
Díaz-Canel stated that before the end of July, the Government will be ready to implement 121 of those measures and defended the process as “a creative process of resistance”, emphasizing that it does not represent a departure from the socialist model.
"The art of politics is finding, amidst that complexity and adversity, compensatory mechanisms to prevent the gaps of inequality from widening," he concluded.
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