Cuba Approves 176 Free-Market Measures as U.S. Pressure Squeezes the Island

Cuba’s Communist Party has approved the most sweeping overhaul of the island’s state-run economy since the 1959 revolution, a package of 176 measures meant to rescue a country in deep crisis under tightened U.S. pressure. The package went to the National Assembly on Thursday, where passage was all but assured, Al Jazeera reported, citing AFP and Reuters. The Associated Press reported Friday that Cuba has approved the 176 measures.

The measures would expand room for private business, allow imports and exports without a state intermediary, permit free hiring, authorize private banks and open the economy to investment by Cubans living abroad, according to the AP. The plan would even allow fast-food chains to operate on the island, the AP reported, and Al Jazeera said it could pave the way for private real estate development and for converting state-owned firms into companies with shares and equity stakes. “Elements that for decades were listed as pillars of the revolutionary economy, such as the state monopoly on foreign trade and the centralization of productive forces, have been dismantled,” Cuban American political scientist Luis Carlos Battista told the AP.

President Miguel Díaz-Canel told the party’s Central Committee on Thursday that the crisis could not be blamed on foreign pressure alone, Al Jazeera reported. He cited “obstacles that don’t come from outside, nor the blockade,” including “slowness, bureaucracy and norms that impede those who want to produce.” Some measures “will not have absolute consensus, but cannot be postponed,” he said. Former leader Raúl Castro, who the U.S. indicted in May, has backed the plan, according to Al Jazeera.

The reforms come as the Trump administration pursues a pressure campaign against the island. Since January the United States has imposed an energy and financial embargo that effectively cuts the island off from fuel, the AP reported; Al Jazeera said the administration has blocked fuel deliveries. Blackouts have lasted up to 20 hours a day and have limited access to health care, transportation and education, the AP said. Cuban officials cautioned that implementation could be slow and that the measures will not be viable if the United States does not lift the embargo, according to the AP.

Washington has signaled it is watching. Secretary of State Marco Rubio and other officials have repeatedly said that economic reforms could ease the U.S. pressure campaign, Al Jazeera reported, and the United States did not immediately respond to the new package. Asked Thursday whether the administration would turn its attention to Cuba after its memorandum of understanding with Iran, Vice President JD Vance said Washington wants Cubans to be “happy and successful” and “We’re actually talking to the Cuban government right now about how they could change their ways to change that.” He added: “If they make smart decisions, we’re going to have a much better relationship with that island.” President Donald Trump and Rubio have acknowledged a maximum-pressure policy aimed at changing Cuba’s political and economic system and have not ruled out military force, the AP reported.

Analysts quoted by the AP said U.S. sanctions are the main obstacle to the plan because they deter investors. In an interview with The National published Friday, Raúl Guillermo Rodríguez Castro, the former leader’s grandson, said Cuba “doesn’t even slightly represent a threat” to the United States and that the country is seeking a “very Cuban” economic model. The European Union also increased pressure, passing a resolution that called for sanctions on Díaz-Canel and the leadership of Grupo de Administracion Empresarial, a business conglomerate operated by the Cuban military, Al Jazeera reported.