Cuban households and small businesses are being offered a wider opening to private money after lawmakers approved a sweeping package of market-style changes, while the island remains short of fuel, food, medicine and reliable power. The National Assembly approved 175-plus reforms on Thursday, a shift officials cast as a way to keep public services functioning and improve daily life without abandoning socialism.
What changes
The measures would loosen state control over parts of the economy that have long been tightly managed from Havana. The package would allow private banks, private real estate development, sales of some state-owned properties to Cuban and foreign buyers, businesses with more than 100 employees, and entrepreneurs owning multiple companies. Prime Minister Manuel Marrero told lawmakers the market can be “an instrument for the efficient allocation of resources,” while President Miguel Díaz-Canel said, “We are not renouncing socialism.”
The practical effect for businesses could be less waiting on state middlemen. The plan would let companies import and export directly, give municipalities more authority to approve local businesses, and gradually move some rationed goods from subsidized prices to market pricing. The full document has not been released, and the timing for implementation remains unclear.
The strain. Cuba’s economy is already under severe stress. Power cuts over 30 hours have become common, with shortages of food, fuel, drinking water and medicine. The same account said only one oil tanker, from Russia, had docked in Cuba since the beginning of the year after a U.S. oil blockade imposed in January.
U.S. sanctions remain a major constraint on whether the reforms can bring in outside capital. Cuban authorities warned implementation could be slow and said the measures will not be viable if the U.S. does not lift energy and financial restrictions; one analyst said investors can face penalties in the U.S. financial system if they do business with Cuba. For now, Cuba has approved the package, but the open questions are the rules, the timetable and whether private capital can actually enter under the embargo.
