HAVANA (AP) — Cuban President Miguel Díaz-Canel on Friday announced a package of economic reforms aimed at attracting investment, expanding participation by Cubans living abroad in the economy and decentralizing parts of the country’s administration.
The president did not provide details about the measures or a timetable for their implementation but said during remarks to state media that it is now “time to change” and that the country “simply cannot continue on its current course.”
“Every opportunity in the midst of a crisis must be seized as a moment for takeoff, as a moment for growth,” Díaz-Canel said, according to a statement from the presidency that was republished by state-run media. “We have established a group of priorities to confront this situation,” he added without offering specifics.
The announcement comes as Cubans have struggled with fuel shortages as a result of the U.S. oil blockade and food insecurity. In January, the United States tightened restrictions on Cuba’s oil supplies in an effort to pressure the island’s government to change its political and economic model, exacerbating challenges that have persisted for about five years.
Díaz-Canel said officials are evaluating measures related to foreign trade, exports, supply chains and logistics. Without elaborating, he suggested the government could eliminate mandatory state intermediaries in import and export operations and grant tariff benefits to those who bring raw materials into the country for production.
The U.S. State Department did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Earlier Friday, a ship carrying nearly 100 tons of food and essential goods arrived from Colombia as part of the humanitarian aid that several countries have sent to Cuba in recent months as a U.S. energy embargo persists.
The ship, which departed Cartagena in early June, crossed the Havana Bay channel early in the morning flying the Colombian flag and escorted by a small Cuban auxiliary vessel, The Associated Press confirmed.
The Colombian Presidential Agency for International Cooperation said that, on orders of President Gustavo Petro, the shipment included nonperishable food, medicine, hospital supplies, electrical materials, solar panels and other items.
The ship also carried seven tons of goods collected by solidarity groups.
Last weekend, another ship carrying 1,700 tons of essential goods from Mexico and Belize arrived in Havana.
In late January, U.S. President Donald Trump threatened tariffs on any country that sells or provides oil to Cuba. The move has deepened a preexisting crisis caused by U.S. sanctions. Washington is pressing the Cuban government to release political prisoners and move toward political and economic liberalization in return for a lifting of sanctions.
Cuba produces only 40% of its oil, leaving the island semiparalyzed and subjected to severe power outages.
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A fisherman prepares his fishing rod in front of the Colombian Navy ship ARC Caribe, docked at a pier in Havana, Cuba, after arriving with humanitarian aid, Friday, June 12, 2926. (AP Photo/Ramon Espinosa)
Republican-turned-independent Rep. Kevin Kiley and former Democratic state Sen. Richard Pan advanced to the November election Tuesday in a Northern California congressional district while a progressive Democrat advanced to face Republican Rep. David Valadao in a Central Valley one.
The races set up significant tests of whether Democrats' redraw of California's House maps will pay off for the party.
Several other major U.S. House races also were set Tuesday as California's protracted vote count from the state's June 2 primary ground on. Two Republicans will face each other in a Southern California House district drawn to end one of their careers. And a Sacramento seat will become a high-profile generational clash between two Democrats.
But the most attention was on two districts in the vast midsection of the state that will help determine whether Democrats can claim victory in California's role in the mid-decade redistricting wars. Both will be crucial to determine which party controls the U.S. House in this year's midterm elections.
Progressive Randy Villegas, a political science professor and school board member, on Tuesday beat the favored pick of establishment Democrats, moderate Assemblymember Jasmeet Bains, to advance to the November election against Valadao, a perennial target whose district Democrats redrew to shift further to the left.
Democrats narrowly beat Valadao in their 2018 wave, only to see him win back the seat in 2020. The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee threw its weight behind Bains, but Villegas won the primary and will test whether progressives or moderates are best positioned to face the resilient Republican.
"Voters in the Central Valley have spoken and they have declared that the Valley is not for sale,” Villegas said in a statement.
Republicans had hoped to face Villegas.
“Socialist Randy Villegas clawed his way out of a bruising Democrat primary by sprinting to the far left and embracing the same failed policies that made California unaffordable for working families,” said Christian Martinez, a spokesman for the National Republican Congressional Committee, in a statement.
For a few days after last week's primary, California's 6th District near Sacramento was a possible warning sign for Democrats, as Kiley and a long-shot Republican who ran on peace in the Mideast held the top two slots in the nonpartisan primary. But the state's slow but regular tally of late Democratic mail ballots catapulted Pan onto the November ballot.
Democrats broke up Kiley's conservative Northern California district, so the congressman opted to run in the new, Democratic-leaning district, left the GOP and became a vocal opponent of partisan redistricting.
“This race will be a choice between the extreme partisan politics that have made California the most unaffordable state in the country, and the independent leadership that allows our local communities to thrive,” Kiley said in a statement.
California Democrats scrambled their map to counter gains Republicans made in Texas and elsewhere after President Donald Trump called for the GOP to create as many conservative seats as possible in its bid to hold onto the House of Representatives in November.
California’s 52 House races provided a miniature of national trends. That included the fallout from redistricting ahead of this year’s midterm elections, this time with Democrats redrawing the map, the generational battle among Democrats and questions of whether moderates or liberals are better positioned to win in swing districts.
In more fallout from redistricting, Republican Rep. Young Kim on Tuesday advanced to the November election. She will face fellow Republican Rep. Ken Calvert after Democrats drew them both into a single district, guaranteeing that one would not return to Congress next year.
“Throughout this campaign, we made the case that after more than three decades in Washington, it is time for fresh conservative leadership, and I look forward to continuing that conversation with voters in the months ahead,” Kim said in a statement.
Calvert replied in his own statement: “Voters throughout the district recognize I'm an effective member of Congress with a history of delivering results, cutting taxes and making life more affordable.”
Also on Tuesday, a major generational Democratic clash was set up as Sacramento City Councilwoman Mai Vang advanced to face longtime incumbent Rep. Doris Matsui on the November ballot.
The 81-year-old congresswoman has held the Sacramento-based seat since the death of her husband, former Rep. Bob Matsui, in 2005. Bob Matsui had represented the district since the 1970s.
Vang, 41, is one of a slew of Democrats across the nation mounting an explicitly generational challenge in the wake of Joe Biden’s presidency.
“People are tired of leaders who answer to their biggest donors instead of the families they represent,” Vang said in a statement after the race was called. “The squeeze on working families doesn’t check your party registration — and neither will I.”
Matsui released her first ad of the general election Tuesday night, focusing on a local mother whose son had muscular dystrophy and who praised Matsui for legislation funding therapies for the disease.
Two other veteran House Democrats in California also made it past younger challengers to the November ballot. Rep. Brad Sherman, 71, a 15-term congressman representing part of Los Angeles, will face a Republican in the fall. Mike Thompson, 75, is seeking his 13th term in a Northern California district.
In San Francisco, a wealthy progressive challenger was unable to crack the top two slots to fill retiring Rep. Nancy Pelosi’s seat. Instead, state Sen. Scott Wiener and city Supervisor Connie Chan will face off to replace the former House speaker.
The 7th District seat held by Matsui is considered a safe one for Democrats, but was redrawn as part of the party’s bid to add five more U.S. House seats elsewhere. Voters signed off on the changes with a constitutional amendment last year.
Democrats initially were concerned about getting locked out of the general election in a San Diego-area seat under the state’s primary system, which sends the top two vote-getters to the November ballot regardless of party. But San Diego City Councilwoman Marni von Wilpert managed to emerge from a large field of other Democrats and will face Republican Jim Desmond, a San Diego County supervisor.
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In this story first published June 9, 2026, The Associated Press erroneously reported Rep. Brad Sherman’s age as 72. Sherman is 71.
FILE – U.S. Rep. David Valadao, R-Calif., poses for a photo in Washington on Jan. 6, 2015. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin, File)
Sacramento council member Mai Vang, who is running for Congress, speaks at her election night party in Sacramento, Calif., Tuesday,, June 2, 2026.(AP Photo/Rich Pedroncelli)
Rep. Doris Matsui, D-Calif., speaks during an election night event Tuesday, June 2, 2026, in Sacramento, Calif. (AP Photo/Rich Pedroncelli)
Sacramento council member Mai Vang, who is running for Congress, holds a child during an election night party in Sacramento, Calif., Tuesday,, June 2, 2026.(AP Photo/Rich Pedroncelli)
