Cuba Loosens Control of Private Sector 07/30 06:14

   

   HAVANA (AP) -- In an effort to fend off a mounting humanitarian crisis, Cuba 
on Wednesday eased up on longtime restrictions on private vendors and imports, 
opening up a sector firmly controlled by the Communist-led government.

   The reforms would allow for the import and resale of some goods and 
medicines from other countries, loosen restrictions on oil extraction for 
foreign companies and implement other changes at a time when the country is 
plagued by medical and energy shortages.

   While private enterprise has slowly opened in recent years, many sales on 
the country's informal market have long existed in a gray area -- not 
technically legal but widely used by Cubans struggling to survive the 
day-to-day hardships.

   The measures, which were approved by the parliament last month and went into 
effect on Wednesday, are expected to bring about a significant shift on the 
island, where the economy and industry have been strictly controlled by the 
government since the 1960s.

   The reforms come as Cuba has been pushed to the brink by an oil blockade 
imposed by the United States in January. The move by the Trump administration, 
meant to put pressure on the government, worsened already crippling blackouts, 
cut workers off from public transport, crippled infrastructure and deepened 
shortages in medicine and food.

   Last month, Cuban President Miguel Daz-Canel said the reforms were 
necessary because the country "simply cannot continue on its current course."

   In total, the government said it was removing 46 of the 125 prohibitions it 
had on private industry, and relaxed 35 other regulations.

   Still, many bans remain in place -- tobacco production, long a staple of the 
Caribbean island, would remain in state hands. So would internet access, 
newspaper publishing and radio broadcasting.

   The easing of restrictions appeared to target specific areas hardest hit by 
the ongoing crisis.

   Medicines, largely purchased through massive groups on apps like Telegram 
and WhatsApp on the informal market, would now also be sold by private 
pharmacies. Shelves in state-owned pharmacies selling subsidized medicine are 
often empty.

   Many welcomed the loosening of the restrictions.

   Francisco Carbajal, a 71-year-old retiree who suffers from seizures, said it 
gives him hope things would improve.

   "What I really want is that there are medications available, because I have 
diabetic neuropathy and carbamazepine hasn't arrived at my pharmacy in a long 
time," he said as he sat on a street in Havana, the capital. "Without it, I'm 
helpless, because I get epileptic seizures."

   The government also gave the green light for private care facilities for 
elderly Cubans -- many young Cubans who would have traditionally cared for 
their aging relatives have migrated abroad.

   The new measures would also make it easier to import electric vehicles, 
which are rapidly becoming a crucial alternative to get around the island where 
the public transport system has largely collapsed due to gasoline shortages.

   Restrictions will also ease on Cuba's decaying oil sector, making it easier 
for foreign investors and private businesses.

   Cuba's government had already made moves to loosen restrictions on private 
industry over the last few decades.

   Cubans were allowed to seek self-employment and in a massive shift in 2021 
-- after the tourism-driven economy was roiled by the coronavirus pandemic and 
a migratory flight from the island began to pick up -- authorities allowed the 
creation of small businesses.

   These latest reforms "truly allow and facilitate the participation of 
non-state economic actors in the country's economy," said Lzara Mercedes Lpez 
Acea, president of the National Institute of Non-State Economic Actors, who 
presented the new regulations.