Decision comes amid strong US pressure for regime change
The Cuban government presented measures this Thursday that aim to liberalize the economy and bring it closer to a Western model.
The country’s Prime Minister, Manuel Marrero, presented the measures, supported by the Communist Party of Cuba and Raúl Castro, to the deputies of the Cuban parliament, who will have to decide whether to approve them or not.
Among the proposed reforms is the opening of the real estate market and the banking sector to the private sector and the privatization of state-owned companies and “many” sectors of the economy.
The measures come at a time of strong pressure from the USA. Donald Trump’s executive has recently applied more sanctions to Cuba, including the entry of fuel into the island, which has caused power outages of almost 24 hours a day across the country. The American president has also threatened the Caribbean island with a military invasion several times. In March, Trump even said that he believed he would have “the honor of conquering Cuba”.
“Conquering Cuba in some way, yes. Conquering Cuba. I mean, whether it’s liberating it, whether it’s conquering it – I think I could do whatever I want with it, Cuba will be next,” Trump said at the time, days after the start of a new war against Iran.
On Wednesday, Cuban President Miguel Díaz-Canel had given a speech in which he warned of the need for the country to make urgent reforms. “Reality demands urgent and necessary changes. And when people’s lives become so difficult, the primary duty of the Communist Party and the revolutionary government is not to better explain the crisis, but to change everything necessary to overcome it,” said the Cuban leader.
“We will comprehensively review the list of activities prohibited to the private sector, guided by a clear principle: replace, whenever possible, prohibitions with responsible regulation. The country needs to establish legal pathways for these activities, with clear rules and adequate controls.”
