Cuba opens economy to private firms

On July 29, 2026, Cuba announced a decree opening several crisis-ravaged sectors of its state-run economy to private firms, including petrol distribution, electricity generation, rubbish collection, and the manufacture and sale of medicines. The move aims to ease acute shortages resulting from a US energy blockade that has caused rolling blackouts, water cuts, and scarcity of food and medicine. The reforms, decreed on July 22 but detailed on July 29, also allow private firms to import and construct electric vehicles, and liberalize oil and mining operations under state license. However, the government retains control over education, telecommunications, media, defense, and tobacco sales. The United States has blockaded fuel imports for nearly six months, taking control of Venezuela energy assets in late January, cutting off Cuba's main supply. Cuba has experienced at least five nationwide blackouts this year, with the capital Havana receiving only a few hours of electricity daily. The decree represents a significant loosening of communist doctrine as the Communist Party faces its biggest crisis since the collapse of the Soviet Union.