Key facts
- Cuba's Communist Party approved an emergency economic package aimed at opening the island's economy.
- The plan includes expanding opportunities for private enterprise and attracting foreign investment.
- Measures will grant greater autonomy to municipalities and state-owned companies.
- The document will be submitted to Cuba's National Assembly for debate.
- The reforms are influenced by economic models in China and Vietnam.
- The announcement follows recent protests in Havana due to power outages.
HAVANA (AP) — Cuba’s Communist Party has approved an emergency economic package featuring unprecedented free-market measures designed to revitalize the island’s struggling economy. The plan, which has not yet been made public, will be submitted to the National Assembly for debate.
The proposed measures include expanding opportunities for private enterprise, granting greater autonomy to municipalities and state-owned companies, and attracting additional foreign investment, including from Cubans living abroad. This initiative comes at a time of heightened pressure from the United States and following recent protests in Havana where residents banged pots and pans amid widespread power outages.
President Miguel Díaz-Canel stated that Cuba has endured a "barbaric, undeserved and unbearable punishment," compounded by the threat of military aggression. He noted that the economic reforms draw inspiration from the market-oriented approaches adopted by China and Vietnam, which have successfully integrated market mechanisms while maintaining one-party rule.