President Miguel Díaz-Canel's package of 174 economic reforms were approved by Cuba's parliament in just one week. File Photo by Ariel Ley Royero/EPA
June 19 (UPI) -- Cuba's parliament approved a package of 174 economic reforms in just one week, marking the most significant shift in government policy in at least 15 years. Driven by President Miguel Díaz-Canel in response to the country's deepening economic crisis and mounting pressure from the United States, the plan approved Thursday opens the door to private capital and reshapes the rules governing the island's economy.
Economists and analysts, however, warned that the real impact of the measures will depend on their implementation and on broader institutional changes that remain absent from the government's plans.
Cuban economist Alfie Ulloa, a professor at the University of Chile's Law School, told UPI the reforms represent a significant change in official rhetoric but questioned whether they will translate into meaningful change.
"They are a profound adjustment in discourse and, if implemented, would represent an important adjustment to the model. But for now they are nothing more than another declaration like many made in the past. I do not believe they will be implemented, nor that they will truly free the private sector," Ulloa said.
