{"id":341005,"date":"2026-07-24T13:31:01","date_gmt":"2026-07-24T17:31:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/oncubanews.com\/en\/?p=341005"},"modified":"2026-07-31T07:59:56","modified_gmt":"2026-07-31T11:59:56","slug":"economic-reforms-and-democratic-opening","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/oncubanews.com\/en\/cuba\/economic-reforms-and-democratic-opening\/","title":{"rendered":"Economic reforms and democratic opening"},"content":{"rendered":"

To climb out of the deep hole the Cuban economy is in, it is not enough to simply introduce\u00a0\u2014\u00a0with excessive delay\u00a0\u2014\u00a0a reform package like the one\u00a0comprising\u00a0176 measures. And I say this as someone who is neither an economist nor anything of\u00a0the\u00a0sort.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

It is a matter of plain common sense, and thousands\u00a0\u2014\u00a0perhaps millions\u00a0\u2014\u00a0of Cubans are saying the same thing. Furthermore, Cuba needs\u00a0a\u00a0profound political reform that brings about democratic opening.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Old Lenin\u00a0\u2014\u00a0as both a thinker and a political leader, a figure whom hardly anyone remembers anymore\u00a0\u2014\u00a0left us a succinct phrase that is easy to grasp and reveals the meaning of many things:\u00a0\u201cPolitics is the concentrated expression of economics.\u201d\u00a0And not the other way around.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Far from being parallel,\u00a0let alone disconnected,\u00a0realms, the political sphere (which encompasses laws, the structure and functions of the state and institutional apparatus, and public policies) is a sort of distillation of class interests.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

In Cuba, economic and political power has been concentrated in the hands of a privileged bureaucratic class; for decades, this group has turned its\u00a0supposedly messianic\u00a0mission of\u00a0representing\u00a0the people\u2019s interests into its primary asset.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Yet, their modus vivendi has been characterized by a lack of transparency, a near-total absence of accountability, the repression of dissent through various means, and the centralization of resources and decision-making.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

All of this owes much to the hostility of the United States and a policy of blockade that has progressively escalated to the present day, where a strategy of strangulation against Cuba is being pursued.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Under\u00a0\u201cenemy fire,\u201d\u00a0in the trenches,\u00a0the Cuban political system was designed, and is sustained, based on the logic of resistance as its premise. Democratic improvement and deepening are sidelined or dismissed.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Power exercised in this manner, based on\u00a0a predominantly authoritarian\u00a0and centralist style,\u00a0has\u00a0had\u00a0significant room for maneuver and\u00a0\u201cblank checks\u201d\u00a0granted in the past by the people themselves.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Yet today that same population on the island is starving, lacking the most basic services for survival, and living in an absurd reality where little to nothing works and life slips away without hope for the short or medium term. The social contract is fracturing day by day.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The situation I describe did not begin to manifest in January 2026. Those who find it convenient to forget\u00a0fail to\u00a0recall that by September 2019, the country was already facing\u00a0\u201cthe conjuncture\u201d\u00a0[a period of acute economic crisis]. Furthermore, Trump\u2019s hostile stance toward Cuba\u00a0\u2014\u00a0and the direction events were likely to take\u00a0\u2014\u00a0was perfectly well known as early as 2017.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Despite this, things\u00a0remained\u00a0essentially the\u00a0\u201csame.\u201d\u00a0The botched, half-hearted reforms pending since 2011 remained stalled. Certain poor decisions\u00a0\u2014\u00a0such as the failed\u00a0\u201cTask\u00a0of Reorganization\u201d\u00a0\u2014\u00a0contributed to the current\u00a0disaster.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Those same people with convenient memories choose to ignore the exodus of some 1.5 million people who have left Cuba over the last five years, fleeing the crisis,\u00a0frustrated and utterly unwilling to endure any more hardship.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The per capita burden of resistance in Cuba is immense\u00a0\u2014\u00a0a\u00a0state of affairs\u00a0that\u00a0is\u00a0both honor and ruin.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Population loss is one of the deepest wounds of recent years, posing a serious challenge for the country\u2019s future, given its aging demographic.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The United States factor is, of course, highly significant in this landscape. It is abundantly clear that the reforms unveiled just over a month ago\u00a0\u2014\u00a0a package of 176 measures that, according to D\u00edaz-Canel, remain open to further revision and expansion\u00a0\u2014\u00a0represent a desperate attempt to salvage the situation at the\u00a0eleventh hour.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

So many years have passed, and such a heavy toll has been exacted on the nation and its people, that many find it hard to accept that the very same individuals and institutional structures\u00a0which squandered precious time and delayed the implementation of those reforms\u00a0now possess the conviction and capacity to carry them through.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

For decades, the\u00a0people\u00a0\u2014\u00a0analysts, experts, observers, and ordinary citizens alike, including many\u00a0Communist Party\u00a0members\u00a0\u2014\u00a0has\u00a0been demanding\u00a0almost all\u00a0the changes now being hailed as essential, precisely because their necessity is so obvious.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

For days and months, we have heard Cuban authorities assert that economic changes in Cuba are being made to \u201cstrengthen socialism\u201d and that there will be no political changes\u00a0\u2014\u00a0certainly not under pressure from the United States.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

I believe it\u00a0is time for those same authorities to acknowledge that the pressure for such political changes is not external but arises from within the island itself. Furthermore, if the people have not yet taken to violent protest, it is due first to the fear of repression and, second, to the miracle that is the Cuban people\u2019s\u00a0consistent\u00a0political culture.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

And in\u00a0this\u00a0I\u00a0include the vast diaspora, which\u00a0\u2014\u00a0mostly quietly (one should not be guided by what happens on Facebook or by loud-mouthed influencers)\u00a0\u2014\u00a0calibrates its political ideas and opinions, distinguishing necessity from virtue.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

In this context, Cuba needs political changes now, with the same urgency with which it demands economic ones.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

It is essential to rebuild consensus and make\u00a0viable\u00a0a reform process that involves \u2014 based on principles of credibility, trust,\u00a0equality\u00a0and justice \u2014 all Cubans who are willing, able, and have something to contribute.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

It has been said many times, but it must be repeated until they are convinced.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

For instance, it is imperative to decree the release of prisoners and an amnesty far deeper and broader than those seen in recent years, if the goal is to demonstrate that there is room for all Cubans and that we all have a role to play for the country during this tragic time.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The authorities should show compassion, especially toward those whom the government refuses to acknowledge as political prisoners. The number does not matter;\u00a0a single case\u00a0is enough to demand a different approach to political management and social coexistence.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Many of us hope for a gesture of goodwill toward those who have already served prison sentences\u00a0\u2014\u00a0some of them frankly disproportionate\u00a0\u2014\u00a0for expressing political dissent.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Without the confidence that \u201cthinking differently\u201d and expressing those thoughts will not entail risks or consequences, it will be\u00a0very difficult\u00a0to advance a national dialogue. And this is essential for rebuilding the common interest,\u00a0the drive for unity or collective sacrifice\u00a0that will lift us out of the current crisis through our own efforts. It is fundamental.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Cuban authorities rightly insist on extending a hand to Washington,\u00a0<\/span>seeking a \u201crelationship based on respect and equal footing,\u201d<\/span><\/a>\u00a0free from impositions. That same approach must apply to Cuban citizens themselves: the same respect and a legal framework that guarantees the freedom to think and act\u00a0\u2014\u00a0even from the opposition\u00a0\u2014\u00a0without harm to anyone and without the risk of arrest,\u00a0interrogation\u00a0or prosecution.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Neither investors, the diaspora, nor Cubans on the island will commit their efforts or believe in a\u00a0\u201cnew phase\u201d\u00a0as long as arbitrary repression persists and the social contract\u00a0remains\u00a0unrenewed. Capital is skittish,\u00a0nervous\u00a0and unanchored.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

In neighborhoods like Centro Habana and San Miguel del Padr\u00f3n, and in cities like Santiago de Cuba and Artemisa, the\u00a0\u201ccacerolazos\u201d\u00a0\u2014\u00a0pot-banging protests\u00a0\u2014\u00a0taking place day and night are no longer focused solely on demands for electricity and water.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

With increasing frequency, calls are being made for political change, the replacement or resignation of officials, and new elections; the response cannot simply be silent listening or dismissing these expressions as mere products of a desperate, overwhelming situation.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Calmly\u00a0\u2014\u00a0and rooted in the people\u2019s political culture, as I acknowledged earlier\u00a0\u2014\u00a0these demands are increasingly being voiced.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Turning a deaf ear will not work; it will\u00a0greatly complicate\u00a0the chances that the announced economic reforms\u00a0\u2014\u00a0and those yet to come\u00a0\u2014\u00a0will achieve the urgent transformation Cuba needs. Whether there are 176 or 458 new measures, they must entail democratic opening and a significant expansion of effective popular participation.<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

It is essential to rebuild consensus and make viable a reform process that involves \u2014 based on principles of credibility, trust, equality and justice \u2014 all Cubans who are willing, able, and have something to contribute. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3685,"featured_media":341006,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"jnews-multi-image_gallery":[],"jnews_single_post":{"source_name":"","source_url":"","via_name":"","via_url":"","override_template":"0","override":[{"template":"1","single_blog_custom":"","parallax":"1","fullscreen":"1","layout":"right-sidebar","sidebar":"default-sidebar","second_sidebar":"default-sidebar","sticky_sidebar":"1","share_position":"top","share_float_style":"share-monocrhome","show_share_counter":"1","show_view_counter":"1","show_featured":"1","show_post_meta":"1","show_post_author":"1","show_post_author_image":"1","show_post_date":"1","post_date_format":"default","post_date_format_custom":"Y\/m\/d","show_post_category":"1","show_post_reading_time":"0","post_reading_time_wpm":"300","show_zoom_button":"0","zoom_button_out_step":"2","zoom_button_in_step":"3","show_post_tag":"1","show_prev_next_post":"1","show_popup_post":"1","number_popup_post":"1","show_author_box":"0","show_post_related":"0","show_inline_post_related":"0"}],"override_image_size":"0","image_override":[{"single_post_thumbnail_size":"crop-500","single_post_gallery_size":"crop-500"}],"trending_post":"0","trending_post_position":"meta","trending_post_label":"Trending","sponsored_post":"0","sponsored_post_label":"Sponsored by","sponsored_post_name":"","sponsored_post_url":"","sponsored_post_logo_enable":"0","sponsored_post_logo":"","sponsored_post_desc":"","disable_ad":"0"},"jnews_primary_category":{"id":""},"jnews_social_meta":{"fb_title":"","fb_description":"","fb_image":"","twitter_title":"","twitter_description":"","twitter_image":""},"jnews_override_counter":{"override_view_counter":"0","view_counter_number":"0","override_share_counter":"0","share_counter_number":"0","override_like_counter":"0","like_counter_number":"0","override_dislike_counter":"0","dislike_counter_number":"0"},"footnotes":""},"categories":[13902,13910],"tags":[35082,35083],"ppma_author":[33674],"class_list":["post-341005","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-cuba","category-politics-in-cuba","tag-democratic","tag-economic-reforms"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nEconomic reforms and democratic opening | OnCubaNews English<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"It is a matter of plain common sense, and thousands \u2014 perhaps millions \u2014 of Cubans are saying the same thing. 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