Díaz-Canel Acknowledges Economic Plan for 2026 Doesn't Align with Regime's 176 Measures

Miguel Díaz-Canel conceded on Tuesday that executing the 176 economic and social measures approved by the regime will require a different approach than what's outlined in the 2026 Economic Plan. This plan, which was recently approved by Cuba's National Assembly, serves as the main instrument for state planning.

"Economic actors must operate under a different dynamic, one that cannot be the same as what's detailed in the Economic Plan report," stated the Cuban leader during a Council of Ministers meeting, as reported by the official website of the Cuban Presidency.

This admission indicates that the new measures will need to diverge from the document that the government itself presented as the economic policy guideline for the current year.

Defining a New Path Forward

The session, led by Prime Minister Manuel Marrero Cruz, focused on establishing a roadmap for implementing the package of 176 changes grouped into 23 categories, which was approved by the National Assembly on June 19.

Díaz-Canel's remarks come amidst a particularly challenging time for Cuba's economy. The Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC) forecasts a 6.5% contraction of Cuba's GDP in 2026, marking the worst performance in Latin America for the second consecutive year. Since 2020, the island's economy has shrunk by approximately 26%. Additionally, in the first half of the year, goods exports reached only 62% of the planned target.

Critical Economic Outlook

The limitations of the Economic Plan have been previously acknowledged by authorities. Economy and Planning Minister Joaquín Alonso Vázquez described it as "the bare minimum," while the Parliament's Economic Affairs Committee warned that the projected 1% growth "does not improve the current situation."

In his address, Díaz-Canel once again blamed the U.S. embargo for the ongoing crisis. "We face a complex dilemma that we can resolve: how to continue building socialism in a small Caribbean island enduring the longest blockade in human history by the world's most powerful nation," he asserted.

The leader also emphasized that successful reforms depend on public support. "We cannot effectively implement changes without the participation of the population," he claimed.

Implementing Transformative Changes

Manuel Marrero emphasized that "the greatest transformation must occur in our way of thinking" and noted that the document was revised after receiving 673 proposals, of which 79% were incorporated by the government.

Initial measures to be enacted include decentralizing the approval of both wholesale and retail prices, allowing provincial governments to create or dissolve local state enterprises, enabling individuals to own more than one private business, and removing the 100-worker limit for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs).

Cuban economist Pedro Monreal criticized the scope of the reforms, describing the package as a "misshapen hybrid." He pointed out that the word "permit" appears 29 times in the document, which he believes reflects a logic of administrative concessions rather than the recognition of permanent economic rights.

This is not the first time the government has admitted to the failure of its economic strategies. In December 2024, Díaz-Canel acknowledged that the economic relaunch plan introduced a year earlier had not achieved the expected results, stating, "We are not programmed robots." In the same meeting, Deputy Prime Minister José Luis Tapia Fonseca succinctly summarized the official diagnosis with the phrase, "We think we are doing well, but we are far from meeting the people's needs."