Cuba Announces Economic Reforms to Allow Private Enterprises

Cuba announced plans to privatize significant portions of its economy and authorize large private enterprises. The measures remove the requirement that foreign investors form joint ventures with the state and allow both Cuban and foreign investors to acquire stakes in state companies.

The changes were presented in a speech to the National Assembly by Prime Minister Manuel Marrero. Lawmakers adopted the 176 measures in a unanimous vote.

Cuba has been under a U.S. oil blockade for four months. The island ran out of oil a month ago, leaving most residents with more hours without electricity than with it. Energy minister Vicente de la O stated three weeks ago that the country had no fuel and no reserves.

Petrol stations have been empty for months, and residents report using charcoal or wood for cooking. A resident of a Havana neighborhood said the price of cooking gas purchased online had risen to $29 a bottle from a few cents when bought from the state.

Diaz-Canel said the government was not acting because of pressure from the United States but to preserve socialism. " Michael Bustamante, chair of Cuban and Cuban American studies at the University of Miami, said both sides appear dug in and that the Cuban government would need to make big concessions.

Alina Fernández, who has lived in Miami as a critic of the regime, said dictatorships are established and fall with help from outside. She added that a government in power for more than 50 years cannot be overturned by banging on pots and pans.