3712. Díaz-Canel Met with Representatives of the Cuban Private Sector

By Leticia Martínez Hernández, Granma, August 25, 2026

Some Cuban entrepreneurs at a meeting in Miami, Florida, in February 2024. John McIntire, Cuba Emprende Foundation; Alain Garofalo, GSI Software Inc; Nora Gamez Torres, Miami Herald; Marta Deus, Mandao; Aldo Alvarez, Mercatoria in Miami, Florida in February 2024. 

The Head of State advocated for increasing the country's production of food, goods and services; for reducing unproductive costs and dependence on imports of finished products; and for incorporating technology, knowledge and innovation.

The president argued that it makes no sense to consider all economic actors in our economic and social model if they are not aligned with territorial and local development strategies and the National Development Plan.

"If the country wants to boost the energy sector, what is the role of the state-owned company in the energy sector? What is the role of the private company in the energy sector?" And that, he specified, must also be reflected in the numbers: how much did you contribute to the energy sector, to job creation, to national revenue, how much did you contribute to electricity generation? he noted.

At the same time, Díaz-Canel was critical of issues such as illicit profits. He emphasized that profit must be linked to effort, results, productivity, efficiency, innovation, and the risks taken, not to speculation or price gouging that harms our people.

This sector, he urged, cannot become a space for illegalities, tax evasion, speculation, corruption, hoarding, and price-setting disconnected from reality.