The Prime Minister Manuel Marrero Cruz announced this Wednesday before the National Assembly of People's Power that four ministries will eliminate over 92,000 positions as part of a reorganization process of the Cuban state, as reported by the official outlet Cubadebate.
The budget cuts affect the ministries of Public Health, Education, Culture, and Sports, and are concentrated, according to the regime, primarily on vacant administrative positions. The rest of the state agencies will need to complete their own resizing process in September.
The announcement is part of the largest package of economic reforms the regime has introduced in decades: 176 transformations approved in an extraordinary session of the National Assembly on June 18, 2026, endorsed by Raúl Castro and the Central Committee of the Communist Party.
Marrero reported that of the 121 transformations planned for June and July, 110 had already been approved, representing 90.9% of the total planned, while another five were progressing partially.
The stated objective of the resizing is to separate state functions from business functions, reduce structures, and achieve more efficient government management. The regime did not specify how many of those 92,000 positions correspond to actual jobs held and how many are vacancies that were already unfilled.
This process is part of a larger plan that aims to reduce the number of ministries from 27 to between 20 and 21 through mergers and the creation of superministries, announced since April 2026.
In parallel, Marrero presented additional measures from the reform package. He highlighted the approval of a decree law that grants greater autonomy to state-owned enterprises to establish their own salary systems, define prices and rates, and make decisions regarding the employment relationship of their workers. Regarding this regulation, the Prime Minister stated that it "constitutes the most significant transformation in terms of work organization and salaries implemented in recent years."
It was also reported that Cuba has surpassed 15,000 authorized non-agricultural mipymes and cooperatives, after all pending authorizations were approved. Additionally, Decree 160, which removes 46 prohibitions and modifies another 36 for the non-state sector, came into effect this Tuesday.
In territorial matters, the regime allocated to 111 municipalities the surplus income obtained in 2025 to be directed towards their own local development strategies.
However, Marrero acknowledged before the deputies that "the prolonged blackouts continue to be one of the main problems facing the country," an admission that contrasts with the triumphant tone of the rest of his address. Cuba is experiencing a severe energy crisis, with power outages lasting up to 18 and 25 hours a day in some areas, in addition to widespread shortages of food and fuel.
The prime minister attributed part of the difficulties to the worsening of U.S. sanctions, which the regime claims have affected sectors such as energy, food production, tourism, and foreign trade, without acknowledging the responsibility of 67 years of centralized management in the Island's structural crisis.
According to the government, 1,464 MW of renewable energy sources have been installed, representing 13.8% of national electricity generation, and 4,292 photovoltaic systems have been placed in essential centers and homes. The parliament session this Wednesday also had on the agenda the approval of the Labor Code, the Housing Law, and the Law on the Organization of the Central State Administration, among other key regulations to support the reforms.
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