'Cuba is opening up.' Reforms begin as US tightens grip | Exclusive - USA Today

Cuba is preparing to enact some of its most significant economic reforms in years, allowing private companies to trade directly with foreign businesses, giving foreign investors more freedom to hire workers, and expanding their ability to develop real estate on the island.
The changes, expected to take effect as early as this week, would convert recently announced reforms into law, part of a package of 176 economic measures approved in June.
Carlos Luis Jorge Méndez, Cuba's deputy minister of foreign trade and foreign investment, told USA TODAY the measures represent a lasting shift rather than a temporary experiment, insisting, "This is for real. This isn't a ploy."
The reforms arrive as the Trump administration tightens pressure on Havana through an oil blockade and economic sanctions, with the U.S. government dismissing the June measures as "window dressing."
John Kavulich, president of the U.S.-Cuba Trade and Economic Council, called the moves a "good trajectory" but cautioned that Cuba would need to amend its constitution to make the changes permanent, noting earlier reforms under the Obama-era rapprochement were later rolled back.
Direct U.S.-Cuba talks appear stalled, with Washington having made overtures to Raúl Guillermo Rodríguez Castro, grandson of former president Raúl Castro, as the island grapples with a deepening humanitarian crisis.