The economist Elías Amor describes the meeting held on August 26 between Miguel Díaz-Canel and representatives of the Cuban private sector as a "historic milestone," interpreting it as a clear sign of the regime's weakness. In his view, the Cuban leader now needs the same entrepreneurs whom the state pursued for decades to rescue him from the economic collapse.
The journalist Tania Costa, who interviewed Amor about the meeting, summarized the paradox with a phrase that encapsulates the economist's analysis: "They have gone from stealing all the properties from entrepreneurs, to allowing them quietly, and now they are on their knees begging them to please produce more."
According to Amor, in the meeting —broadcasted by Cubadebate and not by Granma, a detail that the economist emphasizes as politically significant— Díaz-Canel made a direct appeal to the private sector: to produce more food, to address the shortage of products, to improve the quality of life for the population, and to focus on providing solutions to people's problems.
For the economist, that request reveals a profound ignorance of how the market works. “Gentlemen, Díaz-Canel doesn’t need to tell entrepreneurs that. Díaz-Canel doesn’t understand. The goal of a businessman is exactly that, because if the businessman does not meet the needs of his customers and offers quality products at good prices, customers will not buy from him,” he stated.
Amor was more straightforward in assessing the episode: "Díaz-Canel has no idea about economics; I will repeat this endlessly. It's embarrassing to hear the president of a republic say such things to businesspeople."
The economist also notes that Cuban private entrepreneurs "haven't said anything for now," but he believes that the request did not sit well with more than a few of them.
In addition to the call to produce more, Díaz-Canel accompanied his speech with a warning: no dirty business, corruption, or excessive profits will be tolerated. Amor promptly dismantled that message. “The usual. That message is written by some reactionary.”
The contradiction between dialogue and parallel repression is glaring. On the same day as the meeting, 232 private businesses were inspected in Centro Habana, resulting in 15 permanent closures and over 360 fines for alleged violations of pricing and supply regulations.
The meeting took place in a context of partial reforms. In June 2026, the regime announced an emergency economic agenda with 176 measures that included removing the limit of 100 workers for small and medium-sized enterprises (mipymes) and allowing one person to own multiple companies. In August, the Ministry of Domestic Trade repealed regulations that restricted the wholesale trade of private mipymes through the Resolution 15/2026, although it maintained state controls.
For Amor, Cuban MSEs today have more capacity to exert pressure than ever and should leverage dialogue to demand real economic freedom. "There is no country in the world with a market economy where the business sector does not have an organized system to pressure governments," he warned, calling on the private sector of the island to organize.
The economist describes the meeting as just the beginning of a longer process: "This is the first round, because that boxing match is going to continue and in the end, one fighter will be knocked down."
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