Cuba’s corrupt Communist Party discovers Adam Smith

Last week, Cuba’s Prime Minister Manuel Marrero announced a package of free market reforms, including the legalization of private businesses in agriculture and tourism, that “significantly expand the private sector six decades after Cuba’s communist leaders forbade all private business—even frita stands—and adopted a centrally planned economy model that ended up ruining the country and dragging Cubans into a severe humanitarian crisis.” Source: Nora Gámez Torres, Miami Herald (19 June 2026), “Cuba to privatize state companies; opens banking and energy to foreign and private capital.” See also Carlos S. Maldonado, El País (19 June 2026): “Cuba se abre al capitalismo y aprueba su mayor reforma en décadas: banca privada, mercado de cambios y fin de los subsidios.” It’s unclear, however, when these reforms will take effect, and Cuba’s corrupt government remains a one-party dictatorship. Adam Smith > Karl Marx