Cuban economist says US tourism is key to hard‑currency as reforms face sanctions

Economist Pavel Vidal, a Cuban living in Cali, Colombia, analysed the Cuban government's 176‑point reform package and concluded that effective economic transformation will require a negotiation with the United States. He highlighted tourism from the United States as the quickest way for Cuba to obtain the hard currency needed for a monetary reform, noting that current sanctions and isolation leave the economy without fuel and access to international markets.

Vidal warned that the reform agenda is constrained by three main challenges: the credibility of the officials presenting the measures, the sequencing of their implementation, and the availability of financing amid sanctions and severe foreign‑exchange restrictions. He also critiqued the long‑standing centralized model, which he says has impoverished the country by controlling prices, discouraging investment and limiting productivity. Recent comments from Raúl Guillermo Rodríguez Castro, nicknamed “El Cangrejo,” underscore the political resistance from traditionalist factions within the ruling elite.

Vidal called for stable rules, property‑rights protection, contractual guarantees and reliable dispute‑resolution mechanisms to attract private investment, diaspora capital and foreign investors.