Description: Sanctioned Cuban President, Miguel Canel Diaz, has announced that Cuba plans to introduce measures which would decentralize the national market and allow private investors more freedom to operate economically. The economic measures were previously voted in favor within Cuba’s National Assembly and approved by Raul Castro, the country’s former President. Cuba’s Prime Minister, Manuel Marrero, also announced that the government planned on reducing the number of ministries in order to cut public expenses, while the budget planned for the ministries would be repurposed to draw domestic and foreign investments into the national economy. The decision arrives after recent tensions with the US which has an imposed energy embargo on the country with sanctions on most of the Cuban leadership structure. The US State Department hasn’t issued any new public statements approving or disapproving the measures and referred media outlets to its previous announcement about the imposition of sanctions.
Impact: The open market economic measures are unlikely to deliver immediate relief to the Cuban government, since decades of sanctions on the country, coupled with governmental repression on its civil population has eroded public trust in the government. The measure is highly likely a response to ongoing negotiations between the Cuban and American governments and aimed at reducing the economic and political pressure on the Cuban government. Similar measures have been undertaken in the past while the current are likely to be perceived by the US government as a half – measure in terms of their demands for Cuba to reinvent their political and economic system. Tensions would persist in the short to mid – term, while negotiations are not expected to deliver anything substantial. The US would likely increase the pressure on the Cuban government which is currently highly dependent on donations from other countries which would likely force it to undertake more severe measures of reconstruction in the hope of securing favorable terms from the US.