{"id":2766,"date":"2026-06-19T21:04:53","date_gmt":"2026-06-19T21:04:53","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/southfloridamovingguides.com\/?p=2766"},"modified":"2026-06-19T21:04:53","modified_gmt":"2026-06-19T21:04:53","slug":"is-cuba-serious-about-free-market-reforms-expert-says-promised-changes-likely-come-too-late","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/southfloridamovingguides.com\/?p=2766","title":{"rendered":"Is Cuba serious about free market reforms? Expert says promised changes likely come \u2018too late\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

MIAMI \u2014 Reactions from Cubans ranged from skepticism to cautious optimism over whether the island nation can actually implement the sweeping economic reforms its National Assembly voted to approve.<\/p>\n

Read more Brazilian soccer fans at the World Cup heed warning not to dress Rocky statue in team gear<\/a><\/p>\n

The reforms include unprecedented free-market measures aimed at opening up the struggling island\u2019s economy as pressure from the U.S. and the European Union heightens.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are at a moment when what we have is not working, and if new measures come, even if they are capitalist, but the population can improve, eat better and stay afloat, then the measures are welcome,\u201d state sector worker Omara Oliva said.<\/p>\n

Havana resident Olian Valdes said, \u201cFirst: let\u2019s see if they are implemented. Second: let\u2019s see if it is a principle, but they have something behind it, as usual when they say it is blue and then they tell you \u2018No, it is Prussian blue,\u2019 so that has to be seen. <\/p>\n

\u201cIn my opinion, the ordinary Cuban doesn\u2019t care whether they do it or not, because they have nowhere to invest, nothing to do, and they will benefit the minimum, because more resources may enter the country, but the prices with the salary are going to be the same.\u201d<\/p>\n

The announcement comes after months of increasing pressure from the U.S. and high-level talks between the two countries that have included Ra\u00fal Castro\u2019s grandson, Ra\u00fal Guillermo Rodr\u00edguez Castro, who told an international audience that the country poses no threat to the U.S.<\/p>\n

The U.S. has levied numerous sanctions against Cuba and has indicted Ra\u00fal Castro in connection with the 1996 downing of two civilian planes operated by Miami exiles.<\/p>\n

President Miguel D\u00edaz-Canel said the emergency plan and the policy document prepared by the Communist Party\u2019s Central Committee were shaped by the experiences of China and Vietnam, two communist countries that have introduced market-oriented economic reforms while maintaining one-party rule.<\/p>\n

Count Local 10 Cuba analyst Andy Gomez among the skeptics of the recent move.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is like reshuffling the chairs on the Titanic after hitting the iceberg,\u201d he said. \u201cThese reforms are probably 60 years too late.\u201d<\/p>\n

Gomez said in his view, the communist island doesn\u2019t have the infrastructure in place to actually execute on the more than 175 reform proposals that would \u2015 for the first time since 1959 \u2015 privatize large sectors of its socialist economy.<\/p>\n

Extended interview:<\/b><\/p>\n

That includes opening the door to private banks to private real estate development.<\/p>\n

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\u201cI don\u2019t see in any of the stuff that I have read in the reforms that they introduced (Thursday) that gives the foreign investor the confidence of investigating Cuba, making sure that their money is safe,\u201d he said. \u201cSo we have to wait and see.\u201d<\/p>\n

It all comes as the European Parliament passed calling for human rights sanctions in a move Gomez said \u201cfurther isolates Cuba.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThe humanitarian emergency is not the product of any external embargo,\u201d the resolution states, \u201cBut the direct consequences of the regime\u2019s own model and failures.<\/p>\n

Embodied, it goes on to say, by GAESA \u2014 a Cuban military conglomerate the resolution describes as corrupt.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe only step that they can take is to take some of the money that GAESA, the military economic conglomerate, has assets and begin to implement them and help the Cuban people,\u201d Gomez said. \u201cI don\u2019t think they will.\u201d<\/p>\n

He added, \u201cPeople need to understand (that) this is no longer a Marxist ideology. This is a mafia. This is a group of people that have taken the monies that they have made through GAESA. And we see it from their kids and grandkids living all over the world like millionaires.\u201d<\/p>\n

As for when political change may come to the island, Gomez said \u201cit\u2019s going to take time.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cHere we are in the United States celebrating this year 250 years of democracy,\u201d he said. \u201cAnd I would say that our civil society in the United States right now has some serious cracks in the system.\u201d<\/p>\n

That, he said, underscores the idea that building an open, plural democracy in the country is far from a quick endeavor.<\/p>\n

Read more World Cup squads showcase faith and unity amid deep social divisions at home<\/a><\/p>\n

Associated Press reporter Andrea Rodriguez contributed to this report.<\/i><\/p>\n

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Reactions from Cubans ranged from skepticism to cautious optimism over whether the island nation can actually implement the sweeping economic reforms its National Assembly voted to approve.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2765,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2766","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"yoast_head":"\nIs Cuba serious about free market reforms? 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