Economic changes in Cuba under President Raul Castro
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}President Raul Castro brought gradual but significant changes to Cuba in his 10 years as head of state:
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CELLPHONES: The government allowed ordinary Cubans to have personal cellphones for the first time in 2008. Until then, only foreigners and key government officials were allowed to have cellphones, although thousands of residents had obtained mobile phones through the black market and got foreigners to lend their names to service contracts. Cellphones are now key to people's everyday lives on the island as they are in much of the rest of the world.
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RESORT HOTELS: Also in 2008, the government lifted its prohibition on Cubans staying at the island's resort hotels.
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{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}DISTRIBUTION OF VACANT LAND: Seeking to increase food production, Castro began a large-scale program in 2008 to distribute large amounts of vacant or unused land for private farmers to grow coffee, tobacco and other crops. It was a significant move in a country where the state had seized private lands after toppling dictator Fulgencio Batista in 1959. As of last August, the government says it has distributed nearly 5 million acres to about 220,000 farmers.
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PRIVATE ENTERPRISE: Cuba began allowing individuals to operate small- and medium-size private businesses in 2010, though the state remained the dominant force in the economy. Spare rooms became rental homes and boutique hotels, backyard cafes became elegant restaurants and bustling nightclubs, backed with capital from Cubans abroad. About 600,000 people have licenses to work in the private sector. In August, the government suspended new licenses for certain businesses, including bed-and-breakfasts and restaurants, pending the issuance of still-pending new regulations.
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REAL ESTATE: For the first time since the revolution, the government in 2011 allowed its citizens to buy and sell real estate openly, bequeath property to relatives without restriction and avoid forfeiting their homes for leaving Cuba. Anyone born in Cuba can buy property, including exiles if they re-establish legal residency. Foreigners are still barred from buying land but in a separate reform the government allowed foreign investors to lease government land for up to 99 years.
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{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}LEGAL MIGRATION: In 2013, Castro ended restrictions on travel, allowing Cubans for the first time in decades to leave the island without permission. Tens of thousands of people have taken advantage of the new freedom to visit relatives abroad and return with goods they cannot buy at home.
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RELATIONS WITH U.S..: Castro and U.S. President Barack Obama agreed to restore diplomatic relations in 2014, after five decades of hostility. Both nations opened embassies and began negotiations on a wide range of issues. President Donald Trump said he would take a harder line toward Cuba but so far has imposed only a minor rollback of restrictions on travel to the island.