HAVANA — Cuba’s Communist Party has approved an emergency economic package that includes some of the most significant market-oriented measures seen on the island in recent years, as the government faces mounting economic challenges and increasing pressure from the United States and the European Union.
The policy package, approved Thursday during a Communist Party session, is expected to be submitted to Cuba’s National Assembly for consideration. According to officials, the proposal would expand opportunities for private businesses, grant greater autonomy to municipalities and state-owned enterprises, and introduce measures aimed at attracting additional foreign investment, including from Cubans living abroad.
The document has not yet been made public.
The announcement comes as Cuba confronts a prolonged economic crisis marked by power shortages and growing public frustration. In recent days, residents in several Havana neighborhoods protested recurring blackouts by banging pots and pans.
Government Cites External Pressure
President Miguel Díaz-Canel said the economic package was developed in response to the country’s current challenges and external pressures.
“Cuba resists heroically and creatively, but has endured for too long a barbaric, undeserved and unbearable punishment, to which is now added the threat of military aggression,” Díaz-Canel said in a speech delivered at the close of the Communist Party meeting. The speech was published Thursday.
Cuban officials approved the measures after months of increasing pressure from the United States and a series of high-level discussions between the two countries. Those talks reportedly included Raúl Guillermo Rodríguez Castro, grandson of former Cuban leader Raúl Castro.
The United States has maintained sanctions against Cuba and has also indicted Raúl Castro in connection with the 1996 downing of two civilian aircraft operated by Miami-based exiles.
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Washington and Brussels Signal Continued Scrutiny
Speaking at a White House briefing, U.S. Vice President JD Vance said Washington was closely monitoring developments on the island.
“We’re going to see what they do. And obviously, if they do one thing, we’re going to do something,” Vance said. “If they make smart decisions, we’re going to have a much better relationship with that island.”
Pressure from Europe also intensified on Thursday when lawmakers in the European Parliament approved a resolution condemning what it described as systematic repression by the Cuban government.
The resolution called for broad economic and political reforms and urged sanctions against Díaz-Canel and the leadership of GAESA, a business conglomerate operated by Cuba’s Revolutionary Armed Forces. Both have already been sanctioned by the United States.
Reforms Draw Inspiration From China and Vietnam
Díaz-Canel said the emergency plan and related policy proposals were influenced by the experiences of China and Vietnam, two communist-led countries that have introduced market-oriented economic reforms while retaining one-party political systems.
The measures will now be presented to Cuba’s National Assembly during a special session that, according to officials, was convened without prior public notice, similar to the recently concluded Communist Party meeting.
The National Assembly is expected to debate the proposals as Cuban authorities seek ways to address economic difficulties while maintaining the country’s existing political system.
Tags: Cuba, Miguel Díaz-Canel, Communist Party, Economic Reforms, United States, European Union, JD Vance, Havana
