Cuba Launches Pilot Project for Worker Cooperatives
Executive Director
On December 11, the Cuban government announced new rules for cooperatives designed to increase the number of worker-owned businesses in a move expected to be part of a shift toward free markets. The state-owned newspaper Granma noted that under the initiative, cooperatives "will not be administratively subordinated to any state entity." The pilot program is intended to create 200 new cooperatives and makes cooperatives more attractive in a variety of ways: cooperatives will pay lower taxes than the self-employed, they will be able to bid for idle government property, and the minimum number of members was lowered to three. The cooperatives will not be free from government control: applications to form a cooperative will have to be approved by local governments and the Council of Ministers.