Cuban National Assembly to Review New Economic Reforms

Cuba's National Assembly of People's Power, the island's unicameral legislature, is set to hold an extraordinary session this Thursday to review a package of economic reforms announced last Friday by President Miguel Díaz-Canel. This legislative evaluation follows a meeting of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Cuba (PCC), scheduled for Wednesday, where the proposed measures for economic opening, liberalization, and decentralization will also be discussed.

As is customary in Cuba's political process, once the PCC's Central Committee gives its approval, the National Assembly typically ratifies these proposals unanimously. The reforms announced by Díaz-Canel encompass a broad range of sectors. They include introducing "new actors" and "new modalities" into the tourism industry, encouraging direct foreign investment, particularly from Cubans living abroad, and expanding the role of the private sector. Additionally, measures are planned to invigorate agriculture, foreign trade, and the real estate market, while granting greater autonomy to state-owned enterprises and municipalities.

The Cuban authorities are under immense pressure to implement economic changes due to a dual crisis: the island's deepening economic hardship, which predates recent U.S. sanctions, and external pressure from the United States. The severe economic situation has pushed the majority of the population to the brink, evidenced by increasingly frequent, albeit small, peaceful protests. Daily life is marked by prolonged power outages, shortages of food and medicine, scarce fuel, and crippled public transportation.

Beyond the deteriorating living conditions, the Cuban government and the PCC have experienced a notable decline in popular support and legitimacy in recent years. Compounding these internal challenges is pressure from Washington, which demands substantial political and economic changes from Havana and expects tangible results this year, even alluding to the possibility of military intervention. U.S. pressure includes an oil blockade since January and recent secondary sanctions, which have prompted foreign companies to withdraw from Cuba.