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Cuba’s Communist Party has approved a broad package of free-market measures as part of an emergency economic plan, with the country’s National Assembly widely expected to pass the reforms. The package, presented by President Miguel Diaz-Canel, aims to address a severe economic crisis exacerbated by US sanctions and an oil blockade.

The reforms, described as the most profound since the 1959 revolution, would expand private enterprise, attract foreign investment—including from Cubans abroad—and allow private banks to enter the financial sector. They also propose transforming state-owned businesses and permitting private real estate development.

Coverage Comparison

Across five international outlets, coverage converged on the scale and significance of the reforms, though details and emphasis varied. Al Jazeera reported that the Communist Party approved the measures as part of an emergency package, submitted to the National Assembly on Thursday and “all but assured to pass.” Deutsche Welle focused on the party’s approval and the reforms’ aim to open more sectors to private investment, noting the backdrop of US economic pressure. France 24 highlighted the backing of former President Raul Castro, describing the reforms as “liberal” and aimed at reviving the collapsing economy. The Jerusalem Post reported that lawmakers unanimously approved sweeping reforms that would privatize a vast swath of the socialist economy, citing a “televised presentation” that detailed the sale of state-owned properties. The South China Morning Post described the unveiling of “nearly 200 historic free-market reforms” and detailed 176 measures aimed at rolling back the state’s role in banking, tourism, and agriculture.

Key Claims

The reforms, as described across reports, include:

  • Expanding opportunities for private enterprise and creating measures to attract additional foreign investment, including from Cubans abroad.
  • Allowing private banks to enter Cuba’s finance sector.
  • Transforming state-owned businesses into private commercial ventures with shares and equity stakes.
  • Permitting private real estate development.
  • Allowing the sale of state-owned properties to national and foreign legal entities and individuals, including Cubans residing abroad.
  • Opening more sectors to private investment and promoting foreign direct investment, particularly from non-resident Cubans.
France 24 reported that private businesses would be able to employ up to 100 people. The South China Morning Post quoted Daniel Torralbas, a London-based Cuban economist, as calling the measures “the most profound economic reform programme” since the 1959 Revolution. The Jerusalem Post described the reforms as “the single largest change to Cuba’s socialist model” since Fidel Castro’s revolution.

Context and Reactions

President Diaz-Canel, addressing the party’s Central Committee, acknowledged that the country’s economic difficulties could not be blamed solely on external pressure. Al Jazeera quoted him referencing “obstacles that don’t come from outside, nor the blockade,” including “slowness, bureaucracy and norms that impede those who want to produce.” He said, “The situation calls for urgent and necessary changes.”

Deutsche Welle reported that former President Raul Castro, who participated via video feed, “fully agrees” with the reforms. According to the outlet, PCC Political Bureau member Jose Amado Ricardo Guerra told the assembly that Castro is “convinced that the best ideas always emerge from collective analysis and even from differences of opinion.” France 24 reported that Castro backed the proposals in a letter as "the most beneficial to the revolution at this time."

In the National Assembly, Prime Minister Manuel Marrero told legislators that the measures recognize the market as “an instrument for the efficient allocation of resources,” a remark the Jerusalem Post described as a highly unusual concession from a Communist Party official. Marrero also cast the changes as true to Cuba’s socialist roots, saying, “The updating of the economic and social model has the essential purpose of improving the quality of life of our people.”

Diaz-Canel, speaking just before the vote, urged lawmakers to keep faith in Cuba’s socialist past, saying, “What is being debated here is the dilemma of how to continue the process of socialist construction, which has suffered the longest blockade in history from the world's greatest power... We are not renouncing socialism.”