By Alina Perera Robbio
June 18, 2026 Granma
Translation: Irais Garcia Portelles
From the Palace of the Revolution, this Wednesday afternoon [June 17] the Extraordinary Plenary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Cuba approved the new set of transformations for the economic and social life of the country – 23 fundamental pillars and 176 proposals – designed not only to overcome the current circumstances but also to continue growing.
“This Extraordinary Plenary session is in session on decisive days for Cuba. Proud heirs of the legacy of the Commander in Chief, today’s Cuban revolutionaries face challenges of enormous magnitude that demand unity, ideological firmness, courage, audacity and creative resistance.”
With this idea, the First Secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Cuba and President of the Republic, Miguel Díaz-Canel Bermúdez, began his concluding speech at the Extraordinary Plenary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Cuba, which met this Wednesday afternoon at the Palace of the Revolution, and whose essence dealt with transformations of the economic and social life of the country – 23 fundamental axes and 176 proposals. designed not only to overcome the current circumstances but also to continue growing.
At the beginning of his words, the dignitary also stated: “We have the guidance of our historical leader, an outstanding member of the vanguard of the Centennial Generation and zealous guardian of the continuity of the Socialist Revolution that he contributed decisively to raise, from its foundations to the present day: I am referring to Army General Raúl Castro Ruz, Hero of the Republic of Cuba, who has taught us every day the sacred value of unity.”
“Reality imposes urgent and necessary changes on us,” Díaz-Canel said.
“The context,” the Head of State said, “is extraordinarily complex and challenging due to the incessant aggressiveness of the intensified economic, commercial and financial blockade imposed by the United States government, due to the criminal purpose of the hostile actions of the current administration.”
To give continuity to his previous statement, the president mentioned, “in the first place, the incorporation of Cuba to the infamous and spurious list of countries that allegedly sponsor terrorism; and other accusations, equally false, that seek to discredit the authority and management of the Government, while depriving the country of any source of income in foreign currency.”
Díaz-Canel added, in his line of arguments, “an even more intensified blockade with the Executive Orders of January 29 and January 1st. of May, which support the genocidal energy siege and internationalize, with secondary sanctions, the blockade, the financial, energy and investment persecution, to extremes of maximum pressure.”
“At the same time,” he said, “political-ideological subversion is intensifying through media intoxication on social networks, to damage the credibility of the Revolution, among Cubans and foreigners, stimulating social disorientation in a national and international scenario impacted by profound transformations in the socioeconomic structure and world geopolitics, as a consequence of the unlimited powers of a hegemonic imperial policy.”
The dignitary stressed that such a policy “aims to tear multilateralism to shreds, feeds neo-fascist currents and sharpens global tensions, constantly threatening international peace and security and trying to break the indispensable unity of the forces of the left.”
And with regard to Cuba, he stressed: “The silent genocide that has been undertaken against Cuba causes immeasurable damage and terrible limitations in the daily life of us as a people, while its executors shamelessly lie to the world, denying the energy siege and affirming that we prohibit the entry of millionaire donations that announce a lot and of which they have barely delivered anything of what was promised.”
“Cuba resists heroically and creatively, but for too long it has suffered a barbaric, undeserved, unbearable punishment, to which is now added the threat of military aggression as a new weapon against collective resistance.”
“Cuba faces a cruel blockade and real, daily financial persecution that makes every drop of fuel, every medicine, every food, every piece and every technology that the country needs more expensive.”
Regarding this context, the Cuban President emphasized: “Reality imposes urgent and necessary changes on us. And when the life of the people becomes so hard, the first duty of the Communist Party and the revolutionary government is not to explain the crisis better, but to change what needs to be changed in order to get out of it.”
In this sense, he explained that “a deep and agile economic agenda is required, executable in the short term, which combines macroeconomic stabilization, incentives to stimulate and promote productive opening, legal certainty, investment attraction, intensive use of technology and focused and effective social protection.”
“Let us remember,” he said, “that at the Closing of the XI Plenum we stated that the postponement of the Congress did not limit the possibility of making the changes, modifications and movements that are necessary, taking into account the powers of the structures of the Party and the Government, such as the Plenums of the Central Committee when it comes to agreements adopted by the Party congresses.”
The Cuban President affirmed that “intense work has been done,” based on the report and debate of the Congress of the National Association of Economists and Accountants of Cuba (ANEC); the popular consultation on the Social Economic Program for 2026; of the criteria of economists and experts; discussions and inputs from the Economic Commission of the CCPCC; of the Economic and Social Policy Guidelines approved and updated in the 6th, 7th. and 8th. Congresses of the Communist Party of Cuba; of the proposals of the XI Plenum of the Central Committee and “the work carried out by the commissions that have been preparing the documents for the postponed IX Congress of the PCC, for the known reasons, in terms of the updating of the Conceptualization of the economic and social model, the guidelines and the National Plan for Economic and Social Development (PNDES) until 2030”.
According to the president, “a study of the experiences of socialist construction in other countries such as China and Vietnam has also been carried out, and artificial intelligence has also been used to deepen the search for references and evaluate the proposals in relation to our current laws and regulations”.
“It is a matter of facing,” he argued, “the enormous challenge of continuing to advance in the process of socialist construction, of defending the Revolution and its conquests and of perfecting our society, in the conditions of a country subjected to the most cruel, genocidal and prolonged economic, financial, energy and commercial blockade, exercised by the most powerful power in the world; and for that, to overcome that, the legacy we have is Commander in Chief Fidel Castro Ruz.”
The president then said: “We are going to overcome that challenge, without a doubt, with unity, with courage, popular participation and full conviction in our ability to achieve victory.”
MEANING OF TRANSFORMATIONS
Díaz-Canel Bermúdez said: “The transformations we are presenting are to advance in the defense of socialism, to support and expand social justice, to create economic wealth and distribute it equitably.”
In his opinion, “we need to unleash the productive forces, so that there is more production instead of more restriction, because it is proven that control without supply only displaces operations to the informal market.”
“The equality and integration of economic actors is necessary based on the PNDES-2030 and territorial and local development strategies: state enterprises, MSMEs, cooperatives, agricultural producers, foreign and Cuban investors, residents or non-residents: all must act and contribute, under clear rules, to the socioeconomic development of the country.”
Among the necessary missions at this time, Díaz-Canel Bermúdez said: “We must export and produce to capture and bring in foreign currency and make productive use of it. Each currency that enters must have ways to finance production, imports, investment, wages and infrastructure.”
At this point in his speech, the Head of State reflected that, in order not to move away from the social justice with which the Revolution was conceived, the State needs to create the necessary wealth; and it is necessary to produce with equity, not with egalitarianism. “That is the challenge,” he stressed.
Later the dignitary affirmed: “Legal certainty must be guaranteed: contracts, usufructs, leases, concessions, surface rights and licenses, with temporary stability and protection against arbitrary changes.”
“We must promote digitalization with traceability: electronic invoicing, digital payments, public registries and interoperable data as a basis to reduce evasion, corruption and discretionality.”
“Social protection must be prioritized: replacing inefficient generalized subsidies with direct support for vulnerable people. Always be careful that each action does not increase social inequalities; on the contrary, they are attenuated until they disappear.”
And in the same line of reasoning, Díaz-Canel spoke of “acting with a selective and intelligent opening: attracting technology, financing, markets and external knowledge, protecting strategic sectors through regulation, not through immobility.”
“It is necessary,” he stressed, “gradualness and experimentation: reform in phases and by verifiable pilots, preserving state leadership and correcting the course with evidence to deal with and minimize possible economic and social costs.”
“Political unity is also essential to guarantee consistency and credibility of the measures, clear and precise communication of the decisions to be applied, to gain support for the transformations, as well as the adoption of compensatory mechanisms to mitigate economic and social impacts.”
The Head of State emphasized that “we must work with agility, coherence and quality; and, above all, with control.” Likewise, he asked that “what has been approved be well implemented.”
OF FIVE SIMULTANEOUS FRONTS AND OTHER CONCEPTS
The First Secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Cuba said that, in the scenario he explained, “it is necessary to advance on at least five simultaneous fronts.”
Thus, he referred to the fronts of macroeconomic stabilization and recovery of external income; that of the transformation of the economic and social model; that of the stimulation and recovery of the agricultural productive sector; strengthening accounting and cost management; and the anticipation and mitigation of the social costs associated with the necessary transformations of the economic and social model.
The Head of State recalled that “the Commander in Chief taught us that in times of crisis we could not give up either development or thought, that there is no insurmountable obstacle and that there is always an opportunity to grow.” And on that path, he said, “the Army General showed us that it can be done, it was possible and it will always be possible.”
“The people know the causes of many of the difficulties we experience, but they also need concrete answers, timely decisions and results that are felt in daily life.”
“There are obstacles that do not come from outside, nor from the blockade. There is slowness, bureaucracy, rules that slow down those who want to produce and decisions that we have postponed. What depends on us, we have to change, and we have to change it now.”
Today, resistance alone is not enough. This is what the president said, and emphasized: “This time requires us to transform: produce more, unlock more, listen more, decide better and be accountable.”
“What we propose to implement is an emergency economic and social agenda, with measures that are part of our Government Program and policies approved by the Party, together with decisions that cannot continue to wait.”
“Some,” he clarified, “will not have absolute consensus, but they cannot be postponed. And all of them will have a person in charge with a name and surname, a defined term, an indicator to measure their compliance and public accountability to the country.”
The President commented that, “what works, will be expanded. Anything that doesn’t work will be corrected without delay. Whoever has a responsibility will have to be held accountable for it; and when someone cannot fulfill what this moment demands, they must make way, with responsibility, to those who can do it better.”
“We are going to face this process,” he said, “as the challenge of the generations that today share the defense of the Homeland, the Revolution and Socialism.”
NECESSARY EXPLANATIONS
In another part of his speech, when explaining the meanings of the transformations that are being proposed, the Head of State explained that “central planning would not have the function of managing the economy, but of creating an adequate institutional and regulatory environment so that companies and workers are stimulated to produce goods and provide quality services and efficiently, as well as to introduce innovations in its management for these purposes”.
And with regard to the restructuring of the state apparatus, the government and institutions, the dignitary said: “We are going to integrate structures where necessary, review duplicate functions, reduce unnecessary steps and permanently optimize the way in which the country is directed and served.”
On municipal autonomy and the powers that municipalities should have, the dignitary pointed out that “one of the most important and urgent tasks is to promote the development of the country from the base, from the municipalities”; and that it is “urgent to unleash the management in the municipalities”, and that they end up having and applying “all possible powers for them to develop”.
And with regard to the autonomy of the State Enterprise, the Head of State shared, among other concepts, the certainty that “no economic change will be enough if the Socialist State Enterprise, which will continue to be the fundamental pillar of the economy, does not have the real capacity to manage, innovate and respond for its results.”
The President said that the management of the State Enterprise must be reformed on the basis of real autonomy, economic-financial evaluation, separation of state and business functions, and application of the principle “comply or explain” to prevent the rule from becoming a brake when there is a more beneficial and demonstrable solution.
Díaz-Canel Bermúdez clarified that “autonomy does not mean absence of control, it implies a framework of responsibility; it means being able to decide in time, associate better, invest better, pay better and be accountable for the results before the people and the State.” And he stressed:
“It is necessary to strengthen the State Enterprise, not replace it with administrative mechanisms that immobilize it. To this end, the separation between state and business functions must be completed, performance must be evaluated with economic-financial tools and real autonomy must be granted to manage material, financial and human resources, with subsequent control, transparency and accountability.”
“We are going to extend the delivery of land in usufruct to those who are willing and able to produce,” said the President.
STIMULATION AND RECOVERY OF AGRICULTURAL PRODUCTION
The president shared more than one idea when referring to the stimulus and recovery of agricultural production:
- “There is no sovereignty with an empty plate.”
- “The food of the Cuban people will be treated for what it is: a matter of national security. And the idle lands in Cuba will have to end.”
- “Every piece of land that is covered with marabou [thorny brush] today, when it should be producing food, will have to have a clear answer: either it starts producing, or it is given to whoever is willing to do so.”
- “We are going to extend the delivery of land in usufruct to those who are willing and able to produce: producers, cooperatives, MSMEs and associative forms, without ever renouncing national sovereignty or going back to the dependent country that we left behind with the Revolution.”
- “We are going to recognize the right of those who work the land to invest in what they need to make it produce. But one principle must be clear: that land will continue to belong to the people; and if it does not produce, if it does not serve the country, if it does not fulfill its social function, it will have to pass into the hands of whoever can put it into production.”
- “And to those who are committed to real results, who can matter directly: the seed, the fertilizer, the piece, the equipment. The Cuban peasant cannot continue to be asked for more food with fewer tools and with prices below their costs. And it has to have mechanisms for direct access to foreign currency that work, such as selling to exporters, as is the case with tourism; or the foreign exchange market.”
- “We have to make the land an opportunity and not a burden; that those who sow see the fruit of their effort, that those who produce can live better, and that those who invest in the countryside find security, support and a future. Cuba needs its peasants, their work and their trust. When the Cuban countryside is a path of prosperity for those who work it, the country will be stronger, fairer and more sovereign.”
THE ISLAND FACING THE WORLD
Regarding foreign trade, exports, logistics, value chains and logistics, Díaz-Canel told those present: “We must authorize direct import and export for state and non-state productive, exporting or import-substituting companies, maintaining technical and fiscal requirements but eliminating mandatory intermediation.”
And regarding the renegotiation of the debt, he said: “We must conduct a process of debt exchange for assets. Focused fundamentally on the exchange of national assets for debts without alienating in perpetuity the ownership of them.”
IDEAS ON FORMS OF NON-STATE MANAGEMENT AND FOREIGN INVESTMENT
The Cuban President, referring to Non-State Forms of Management, stated:
- “We are going to comprehensively review the list of activities prohibited to the private sector, with a clear principle: to replace, whenever possible, the prohibition with responsible regulation.”
- “The country needs to open legal paths, with clear rules and adequate controls, to these activities.”
- “We are also going to make the scope of the social purpose of MSMEs and other economic actors more flexible and significantly alleviate the bureaucratic burden that many entrepreneurs face today.”
Likewise, the president spoke of speeding up the creation of economic associations between State and Non-State Forms of Management.
Regarding Foreign Direct Investment, the Head of State commented that foreign investment is also imprisoned by a lattice of obstacles that hinder its necessary increase. And he stressed: “Not only must we tell the foreign investor where he should invest, but also that he has the initiative to invest in the economic branch of his interest, as well as directly choose his workers, without state intermediaries always.”
The president also stated: “We must authorize foreign direct investment in the national private sector, including MSMEs, with clear rules of ownership, repatriation, reinvestment and dispute resolution.”
Díaz-Canel spoke about “facilitating investment models with different modalities and with all actors.” And with regard to Cubans living abroad, he said that those who “want to invest, donate, import technology, open a market or build a project in their land, we are going to offer them a clear, stable and respectful framework, without being looked at with suspicion for wanting to help their own or contribute to the development of the land where they were born.”
“To those who want to build with Cuba, without trying to impose anything on them, we say with our hearts in our hands: here you have your house, and here you have the door open. Because this Homeland, at this time, does not have any good Cubans to spare.”
NATIONAL ELECTRICITY SYSTEM AND ENERGY
“The blackout is not only a problem of megawatts or generation deficit. The blackout is the child who could not study for the test; food that spoiled in a refrigerator; the old man who spends the night awake, without rest in the heat. It is the hospital that works to the limit, the office that cannot keep a medicine, the worker who loses his working day and the establishment that has to close. That is why energy is not a technical issue: it is a human, economic and national issue.”
The analysis was shared by the president, who also stated: “We are going to accelerate the incorporation of solar energy into the national economy, as we have been doing. To achieve this, we will facilitate the direct entry of foreign companies that supply panels, batteries, inverters and associated solutions, reducing intermediaries that increase costs for the population and for the country.”
Díaz-Canel said that “tariffs on the import of solar technologies, storage systems and equipment for energy saving have already been eliminated; now we will also make progress in eliminating taxes on their sale and on the services linked to their installation and maintenance”.
Among other ideas, the dignitary said: “We will promote electric transport linked to renewable sources. Any electric vehicle intended for public, private or light-duty transport that demonstrates that it operates totally or mostly with solar energy will be eligible for special incentives: exemption from tariffs, elimination of taxes on its sale and facilities for importing chargers, batteries, parts and associated solutions”.
“We will also promote the installation of solineras [solar charging stations] throughout the country, with foreign, private, cooperative and state investment, prioritizing urban routes, tourist poles, productive areas and essential services.”
“Along with this, we will establish an expedited way to grant licenses for transporters, electric taxis or associated mobility services, under clear rules, technical control, road safety and transparent prices.”
SOCIETY INSIDE
The president dedicated a special space to the issue of social inequalities. In this sense, he shared with those present at the Extraordinary Plenary the following concepts: “The first priority, before any other, are the people who cannot wait for the economy to improve. Because there are pains that do not understand deadlines.”
“True social justice is not based on artificial prices that then end up becoming shortages, queues, low wages and an illegal market.”
“Social justice is built on real foundations: income with purchasing power, direct protection for those who need it most, and a national economy capable of producing more. There are no shortcuts. These are not new ideas; These are decisions that the country discussed and approved years ago. The mistake was not in raising them, but in having postponed them. And that stage of postponements has to end.”
Later, the Head of State reflected on giving the state business sector, and the private sector, greater prominence and incentives to get involved in the solution of prioritized local problems, such as soup kitchens, sanitation, and centers for children without family protection. In this regard, he stated that economic actors “will have new concrete tasks,” such as “taking the payment to the retiree close to his home, so that he does not have to stand in line for hours in the sun; sponsoring soup kitchens, homes for the elderly, grandparents’ homes and children’s centers; create solidarity quotas and cost prices for those who really need it; digitize everything, so that it is known who contributes, who receives and what result it gives.”
On fiscal, tax, monetary, and financial reorganization policy, the dignitary also spoke, who asserted that “the main objective to reduce the fiscal deficit is in the increase of production, which is the basis of taxes, and the decrease of unnecessary expenses of the Budget.”
“That is also why,” he said, “we are going to correct a policy that did not give the expected results. Price caps, in practice, failed to contain inflation: they often caused the disappearance of products, deviations towards illegality, higher prices, less tax collection and an impossible race between real prices and administrative decisions that always arrived late, or that remained immovable in ignorance of the changing economic reality, limiting all those who wish to develop their economic activity within the framework of legality and Transparent shape. That is why we are not going to continue capping prices in a general way.”
“We have to correct distortions in the tax system that today make production chains more expensive and end up being transferred to the final price.”
Díaz-Canel reflected on the Banking and Financial System; on the import of fuels; on the import of electric vehicles – for which all obstacles are eliminated; on domestic trade, human capital, wages and incentives; as well as on digital transformation, software and artificial intelligence, and knowledge economy.
He also dedicated space in his reflections to relevant issues for Cuba such as tourism and real estate business; digital government, public data and intelligent control. And towards the end of his speech, he highlighted:
“Cuba does not need any more delays; it needs solutions. It is not a question of creating more offices or multiplying meetings, but of achieving concrete results.”
“To govern is to resolve, unblock, accompany and make decisions become real improvements. Because creating in Cuba, investing in Cuba, working in Cuba and staying in Cuba also depends on the country being able to open paths, organize intelligently and support those who want to contribute.”
“Along with economic opportunities, we are also going to promote specific spaces so that young people can act from their communities. The Community Youth Network should be a way for a young person to find where to train, where to get a job, where to serve their community and where to turn an idea into a real project.”
“This network must articulate useful initiatives in the neighborhoods: recovery of public spaces, support for vulnerable people, cultural and sports activities, training in trades and technologies, community communication, productive projects, local employment and accompaniment of young people at risk.”
“It is not a question of creating another structure or of summoning young people only to receive orientations. It is about giving them skills, tools, knowledge, responsibilities and real spaces to transform the place where they live. Because staying in Cuba also has to mean having a place where you can be useful, grow, learn, lead and build a future from the block, the school, the workplace and the municipality.”
And then he emphasized: “We know our country. We know where the obstacle is, where corruption is hidden, where slowness is unnecessary and where shame and dignity are lacking.”
“Each measure we announce will have those responsible, deadlines and indicators. We are going to report what is progressing, what is not complied with and what needs to be corrected.”
“There will be things that, in order to protect them from those who want to sabotage them, we have to treat them with discretion; Martí already taught us that there are things that, in order to be achieved, must be hidden. But discretion will never be a permission to hide something from the people.”
“As a people we are not going to call only to resist. We are going to call ourselves to create. To produce. To decide. To be supervised. To prosper, and to transform.”
“Because what we are starting today is not done by a government. We all do this or we don’t: with the farmer who replants, with the MSME [small and medium-size enterprise] who dares, with the technician who installs the first panel, with the teacher, with the doctor, with the young person who decides to stay and bet on his land, with the Cuban living abroad who reaches out. With you. With me. With everyone.”
“We are not going to deny the problems. We are not going to defend bureaucracy. We are not going to close the door on talent. We are not going to abandon the vulnerable. And we will never allow the suffering of this people caused by the perverse imperialist blockade to be used against the sovereignty of the Homeland.”
“Nothing will be impossible if we take the challenge as an opportunity and history as inspiration.”
“Céspedes, Agramonte, Maceo, Gómez, Martí, Mella, Villena, Guiteras, Che, Camilo, Almeida, Fidel and Raúl, all our heroes faced moments as difficult or more difficult for their time than those faced today by the new revolutionary generation.”
“And everyone emerged from those challenges with honor and glory, even those who fell in combat without ever seeing victory, because they bequeathed us lessons of courage that will endure, as was verified on January 3 of this year, when 32 Cuban combatants fell facing elite troops, far superior in numbers and means.”
At the end of his words, the Cuban President emphasized: “No Revolution has had it easy. And ours has had the audacity to survive six decades of blockade, genocidal laws, hybrid warfare and a ladder of unilateral coercive measures that no other nation endured or would endure for so long.”
“On the centenary of the birth of Commander in Chief Fidel Castro Ruz, on the 95th birthday of Army General Raúl Castro Ruz, the best tribute we can pay to the admirable work of our two historical leaders is to defend it and preserve its essence of social justice, in the midst of the gale of predatory wars, threats of invasion and processes of neo-colonization that, like the Giant of the Seven Leagues, they go through the sky swallowing worlds in these times.”
“We are all summoned. And together we will win.”
