The emergency economic package was announced as an ongoing pressure campaign by the United States has rattled the island nation.
Published June 18, 2026
The Cuban Communist Party has approved a number of unprecedented free market policies as part of its emergency economic package.
The package will be submitted to parliament on Thursday and is almost certain to be passed.
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The plan would expand opportunities for private enterprise and take steps to attract additional foreign investment, including from Cubans abroad.
It could also lay the groundwork for private real estate development on Caribbean islands, or for the transformation of state-owned enterprises into private commercial ventures through stakes or shareholdings. It will also allow private banks to enter Cuba’s once state-controlled financial sector.
The reform proposal signals dramatic changes for Communist-led Cuba.
President Miguel Diaz-Canel said in a broadcast from the party’s central committee on Thursday that the country’s dire economic situation is not just due to external pressure.
The United States has imposed a decades-long trade embargo on Cuba, weakening the country’s economy. U.S. pressure on Cuba has increased since January, with President Donald Trump’s administration blocking fuel shipments to Cuba.
But Díaz-Canel acknowledged that some of the current economic conflicts are due to domestic factors, citing “obstacles and blockades that do not come from outside.”
He pointed to “slowness, bureaucracy and norms that hinder those who want to produce” and “decisions that have been postponed.”
“The situation calls for urgent and necessary change,” he said.
On Thursday, the European Union also increased pressure on Cuba, passing a resolution calling for sanctions against Diaz-Canel and the leaders of Grupo de Administracion Empresarial SA, a conglomerate run by the Cuban military.
The EU resolution condemned the Cuban government’s “systematic repression” but called for “significant economic and political changes.”
In his speech, Díaz-Canel suggested that the emergency economic plan would likely face opposition from hard-line elements of the Communist Party, which has formally ruled Cuba since 1965.
He said some of the reforms “will not be fully agreed upon, but cannot be postponed.”
Former Cuban leader Raul Castro, who was indicted by the United States in May, also supports the plan.
Trump administration officials, particularly Secretary of State Marco Rubio, have repeatedly said economic reforms could ease Washington’s pressure campaign on the island. However, the United States did not immediately react to the move.
Meanwhile, US Vice President J.D. Vance was asked on Thursday whether the Trump administration would turn its attention to Cuba after signing a memorandum of understanding to end the war with Iran.
President Trump has repeatedly floated both a military attack and what he calls a “friendly takeover” of Cuba.
Vance responded that Washington wants Cubans to be “happy and successful.”
“We are currently in discussions with the Cuban government about how we can change our approach to change this situation,” Vance said.
“If they make wise decisions, we will have a better relationship with the island.”
