{"id":745679,"date":"2026-06-18T20:05:11","date_gmt":"2026-06-18T20:05:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/745679\/"},"modified":"2026-06-18T20:05:11","modified_gmt":"2026-06-18T20:05:11","slug":"cubas-communist-party-approves-emergency-economic-plan-opening-country-to-private-enterprise","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/745679\/","title":{"rendered":"Cuba\u2019s Communist Party approves emergency economic plan opening country to private enterprise"},"content":{"rendered":"

Open this photo in gallery:<\/a><\/p>\n

Cuba’s President Miguel Diaz-Canel, second left, and Raul Castro’s grandson Raul Guillermo Rodriguez Castro, center back, take part in a rally in support of former President Raul Castro in front of the U.S. Embassy in Havana, Cuba, Friday, May 22.Ramon Espinosa\/The Associated Press<\/p>\n

Cuba\u2019s powerful Communist Party, or PCC, on Thursday approved an emergency economic package featuring unprecedented free-market measures aimed at opening up the struggling island\u2019s economy amid heightened pressure from the U.S.<\/p>\n

The document, which has not yet been made public, will be submitted Thursday to Cuba\u2019s National Assembly. It envisions expanding opportunities for private enterprise, greater autonomy for municipalities and state-owned companies and measures to attract additional foreign investment, including from Cubans abroad.<\/p>\n

In recent days, residents in several Havana neighborhoods staged protests, banging pots and pans as power outages spread across the island.<\/p>\n

Opinion: The U.S. should back off its aggressive stance toward Cuba<\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cCuba resists heroically and creatively, but has endured for too long a barbaric, undeserved and unbearable punishment, to which is now added the threat of military aggression,\u201d President Miguel D\u00edaz-Canel said late Wednesday in the closing speech of the Communist Party session. The speech was published Thursday.<\/p>\n

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

The document will be submitted to the National Assembly for debate during a special session that, like the recent party meeting, was convened without prior public notice.<\/p>\n

Cuba\u2019s ex-president Ra\u00fal Castro indicted in U.S. on murder charges<\/a><\/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. 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

U.S. Vice President JD Vance said at a White House press briefing that the administration is watching the island\u2019s actions to determine how to respond.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re going to see what they do. And obviously, if they do one thing, we\u2019re going to do something,\u201d Vance said. \u201cIf they make smart decisions, we\u2019re going to have a much better relationship with that island.\u201d <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Open this photo in gallery: Cuba’s President Miguel Diaz-Canel, second left, and Raul Castro’s grandson Raul Guillermo Rodriguez…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":745680,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[901,888,902,879,877,903,45,49,48,876,895,896,891,878,875,46,549,295,894,887,914,880,881,893,889,890,884,904,885,909,910,912,907,911,905,908,882,898,899,714,897,906,865,61,900,892,886,883,913],"class_list":["post-745679","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-economy","tag-alberta","tag-arts-news","tag-bc","tag-breaking-news","tag-breaking-news-video","tag-british-columbia","tag-business","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-canada-news","tag-canada-sports","tag-canada-sports-news","tag-canada-trafficcanada-weather","tag-canadian-breaking-news","tag-canadian-news","tag-economy","tag-education","tag-environment","tag-federal-government","tag-foreign-news","tag-globe-and-mail","tag-globe-and-mail-breaking-news","tag-globe-and-mail-canada-news","tag-government","tag-life-news","tag-lifestyle","tag-local-news","tag-manitoba","tag-national-news","tag-new-brunswick","tag-newfoundland-and-labrador","tag-northwest-territories","tag-nova-scotia","tag-nunavut","tag-ontario","tag-pei","tag-photos","tag-political-news","tag-political-opinion","tag-politics","tag-politics-news","tag-quebec","tag-sports-news","tag-technology","tag-travel","tag-trudeau","tag-us-news","tag-world-news","tag-yukon"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/745679","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=745679"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/745679\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/745680"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=745679"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=745679"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=745679"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}