21 July 2025
Describing the present moment as being amongst the most difficult in recent Cuban history, President Díaz-Canel has called on all Cubans to commit their energy and effort to finding solutions to meet the challenges now facing the country.
“This is not the first time, nor will it be the last, that the Revolution faces its ‘most difficult moment,’ although it will always seem so to us,” he told the closing session of Cuba’s weeklong National Assembly.
His remarks came at the end of two days of meetings of its working commissions – sometimes held jointly in recognition of the urgent need for cross-cutting solutions – followed by a further two days in plenary sessions involving all delegates.
The presentations, including the doubts and concerns voiced by some elected members in their interventions, were reported at length in Cuba’s official broadcast, print, and online media.
The often-frank comments made by Ministers sought to explain to Cubans and their representatives the complex nature of finding and delivering solutions to the critical macro-economic problems the island faces if it is to restore growth. Ministers also emphasised the need to achieve greater understanding and popular support for the measures being introduced when nationwide energy outages, shortages of food and medicines, dollarisation, and increased US pressure are seeing localised protests threaten wider social instability.
This issue of Cuba Briefing is largely dedicated to coverage of the main economic announcements and general themes emerging from the National Assembly meeting. Next weeks’ issue, the last before the summer break, will provide a general analysis, additional detail, and as usual a wider range of news Cuba-related news.
Detailed coverage of the recently held ninth Cuban Communist Party Plenary providing thepolitical context to the National Assembly meetings can be found in Cuba Briefing 14 July 2025.
Highlights in this issue:
- President says gravity of economic situation requires whole nation’s efforts to resolve
- Economy Minister’s frank remarks indicate economic outlook will remain challenging
- Marrero outlines partial progress with economic reforms, sets out plans for rest of 2025
- Power generation ‘able to meet basic national demand by end of year’
- Senior Minister resigns following extraordinary intervention
21 July 2025, Issue 1289
The Caribbean Council is able to provide further detail about all of the stories in Cuba Briefing. If you would like a more detailed insight into any of the content of today’s issue, please get in touch.