Cuba on Thursday unveiled nearly 200 historic free-market reforms aimed at rescuing the communist island from a severe crisis aggravated by a US oil blockade.

Cuba's communist leaders were set to meet Wednesday to discuss plans to revive the collapsing economy in the face of a devastating US blockade.

Cuba's powerful ex-president Raul Castro on Wednesday threw his weight behind liberal reforms aimed at reviving the collapsing economy in the face of a crippling US blockade.