HAVANA – In an extraordinary session chaired by Esteban Lazo Hernández, president of Cuba’s State Council, Cuban officials have greenlit two landmark decree-laws that form a core part of the country’s ongoing economic and social transformation process. The legislative actions, announced July 16, 2026, update the nation’s regulatory framework to align with policy changes already vetted by the Political Bureau, the Extraordinary Plenum of the Party Central Committee, the National Assembly of People’s Power, and the Council of Ministers.
The first measure, the Decree-Law on the Cuban State Business System, establishes new guiding principles for the organization and operation of the country’s state-owned enterprise network, overseen by the National Institute of State-Owned Enterprise Assets. According to Roberto Ricardo Marrero, president of the institute, the legislation addresses 16 of the 17 planned reforms under Thematic Area 1, focused on restructuring the management model for socialist state economic actors, while also clearing the way for 12 additional cross-cutting reforms across other policy areas.
Yovana Vega Mato, an executive with Cuba’s Ministry of Economy and Planning, emphasized that the new decree-law creates a formal legal platform that allows the state-owned enterprise system, under the oversight of the National Institute of State Business Assets, to exercise full governing authority and roll out all mandated reforms. The framework is designed to work in tandem with a suite of complementary regulations currently in development.
During session debates, Lazo underscored the historic importance of the state business decree-law. The legislation formally reaffirms the socialist state-owned enterprise as the central player in Cuba’s national economy, while expanding operational autonomy for state firms, unlocking untapped productive capacity, and formalizing requirements for corporate social responsibility.
The second approved measure, the Amendment to Decree-Law No. 76 on Agricultural Cooperatives, updates regulations governing the formation, organizational structure, membership integration, and daily operation of agricultural cooperatives across the country. The revision brings existing cooperative rules into alignment with the broader goals of Cuba’s national economic and social transformation agenda.
Both new decree-laws are scheduled for publication in the Official Gazette of the Republic of Cuba to make the regulatory changes accessible to the general public. During the session, the State Council also outlined its ongoing commitment to supporting the transformation process through its constitutionally granted legislative and oversight powers. Officials noted that the full set of national reforms is intended to refine Cuba’s socialist development model and drive sustained national economic growth and broad-based social progress.