Cuba passes sweeping free-market reforms in biggest economic shift since revolution

By — Andrea Rodriguez, Associated Press Andrea Rodriguez, Associated Press Leave your feedback Share Copy URL https://www.pbs.org/newshour/world/cuba-passes-sweeping-free-market-reforms-in-biggest-economic-shift-since-revolution Email Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Pinterest Tumblr Share on Facebook Share on Twitter Cuba passes sweeping free-market reforms in biggest economic shift since revolution World Jun 19, 2026 7:09 PM EDT HAVANA (AP) — Observers on Friday called Cuba's new free-market reforms the most sweeping economic overhaul of the island's communist economy since the Cuban revolution, as the grandson of former President Raúl Castro said in an interview that Cuba must seek to move its economy forward. The 176 measures aim to further decentralize Cuba's state-run economy, which has been left gasping by a tightened embargo under President Donald Trump. Under the island's current economic model, the government largely determines what is produced, who produces it, the prices at which goods are sold and how the country's resources are allocated. READ MORE: U.S. sanctions Cuban President Díaz-Canel in latest move pressuring island's leadership The plan includes more space for private businesses, imports and exports without state intermediation, free hiring of personnel, authorization for private banks and investment by Cubans abroad. It even permits fast-food chains to establish themselves on the island. "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," said Luis Carlos Battista, a Cuban-American political scientist and lawyer who is a doctoral candidate at the University of Salamanca. Cuban leaders like former President Raúl Castro – who still wields significant power on the island – have sought to push forward more limited reforms of Cuba's economy in the past, but efforts have run into bureaucratic hurdles. In passing the reform, Cuban authorities cautioned that implementation could be slow, and noted measures will not be viable if the U.S. does not lift the energy and financial embargo on the island. Since January, Cuba has been under a harsh energy and financial embargo imposed by the U.S., effectively blocking Cuba off from fuel, it's main energy source, and deepening the crisis had already been deteriorating for the past five years. Blackouts have lasted up to 20 hours a day and have restricted access to health services, transportation and education. U.S. President Donald Trump and Secretary of State Marco Rubio acknowledged that they are maintaining a policy of maximum pressure to change the island's political and economic system, which has endured for six decades despite U.S. pressure. They have not ruled out the use of military force. Castro grandson says Cuba not even 'slightly' a threat to U.S. In an interview published Friday, in the United Arab Emirates-based The National, Raul Guillermo Rodrig