{"id":222588,"date":"2026-08-31T02:04:47","date_gmt":"2026-08-31T02:04:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/cuba-is-opening-up-reforms-begin-as-us-tightens-grip-exclusive-usa-today\/"},"modified":"2026-08-31T02:04:47","modified_gmt":"2026-08-31T02:04:47","slug":"cuba-is-opening-up-reforms-begin-as-us-tightens-grip-exclusive-usa-today","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/cuba-is-opening-up-reforms-begin-as-us-tightens-grip-exclusive-usa-today\/","title":{"rendered":"'Cuba is opening up.' Reforms begin as US tightens grip | Exclusive – USA Today"},"content":{"rendered":"

HAVANA \u2013 Cuba is preparing to loosen some of the tightest controls over its communist economy, allowing private companies to trade directly with foreign businesses, giving foreign investors greater freedom to hire workers and expanding their ability to develop real estate on the island.
The changes, expected to begin taking effect as early as this week, would make recently announced reforms<\/a> into law. And it could amount to a significant opening of Cuba\u2019s economy at a time when the Trump administration is choking<\/a> the country with an oil blockade and economic sanctions.
Carlos Luis Jorge Me\u0301ndez, Cuba\u2019s deputy minister of foreign trade and foreign investment, told USA TODAY in an exclusive interview in Havana that the measures are among the most consequential of 176 economic reforms<\/a> approved in June. He said they represent a lasting shift rather than another temporary experiment with private enterprise.
\u201cThis reinforces the idea that Cuba is opening<\/a> up,\u201d Me\u0301ndez said in a wide-ranging interview with USA TODAY that included the status of U.S.-Cuba talks and the effect of recent U.S. sanctions on Cuba\u2019s private sector. \u201cThis is a real process; this is for real. This isn’t a ploy.\u201d
When first announced in June, the reforms were applauded by some analysts and U.S. and Cuban entrepreneurs. The U.S. government called it window dressing.
How Cuba turns the reforms into lasting law remains a key question.
Cuba\u2019s amendments and promises of reform are a \u201cgood trajectory\u201d to where the island\u2019s private sector should be headed, said John Kavulich, president of the U.S.-Cuba Trade and Economic Council, a trade group that has been dealing with Cuba since 1994.
But Cuba would need to amend its constitution to make the reforms permanent, he said. Previous economic reforms, during a rapprochement with the administration of President Barack Obama, were later rolled back by Cuban leaders.
The Cuban government \u201cwill increasingly discover the more changes it makes to policies, regulations, and statutes relating to the private sector in Cuba \u2026 the more questions will be created about the sustainability of those changes,\u201d Kavulich said. \u201cThe constitution of Cuba will need to be adjusted \u2013 and there is not much time to do it.\u201d
The moves to open Cuba\u2019s economy to foreign investment come amid heightened tensions between the United States and Cuba. Direct talks between the two countries appear stalled. The United States had been looking for an interlocutor with Cuba and made overtures with Rau\u0301l Guillermo Rodri\u0301guez Castro<\/a>, grandson of former Cuban president Rau\u0301l Castro, according to an exclusive USA TODAY interview<\/a> in July.
Meanwhile, Cuba faces a deepening humanitarian crisis in the wake of increased sanctions and an oil blockade from the Trump administration, which has projected a military threat<\/a> against the island unseen since the 1962 Cuban Missile Crisis. Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced<\/a> a new round of sanctions Aug. 20.
\u201cEvery time they create a new mechanism in which they try to get out of the noose, we just close it off,” Rubio told Axios.
Me\u0301ndez confirmed the two countries broke off talks until they could find common ground.
\u201cWe maintain our position and are willing to continue the dialogue,\u201d he said.
According to Me\u0301ndez, other Cuban economic measures expected to be announced or made law this week include:
Me\u0301ndez echoed Rodri\u0301guez Castro, saying the communist country is ready to negotiate with the U.S., further open its economy to foreign investment and allow the private sector to flourish, something U.S. administrations have sought through the decades.
All the reforms should be law by the end of the year, Me\u0301ndez said.
\u201cThere are transformations we are making that are changing the way the national economy behaves so profoundly that they will be very difficult to reverse,\u201d Me\u0301ndez said.<\/p>\n

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HAVANA \u2013 Cuba is preparing to loosen some of the tightest controls over its communist economy, allowing private companies to trade directly with foreign businesses, giving foreign investors greater freedom to hire workers and expanding their ability to develop real estate on the island.The changes, expected to begin taking effect as early as this week, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":222589,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-222588","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-world","entry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/222588","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=222588"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/222588\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/222589"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=222588"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=222588"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=222588"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}