Cubans greet sweeping market reforms with hope, doubt and fatigue

Cubans in Havana reacted with a mix of hope, skepticism and exhaustion on Friday after the government approved its biggest market-oriented reforms in

decades, opening parts of the island's tightly controlled economy to private and foreign capital.



For many on the Caribbean island, the announcement was notable not only for its scale, but for what it implied: that one of the world's last Soviet-style economies may be edging toward a model closer to China or Vietnam as a deepening crisis erodes daily life.



Lawmakers approved a package of 176 measures after the Communist Party endorsed the plan earlier in the week. The proposals include expanding private enterprise, attracting more foreign investment, allowing private participation in banking and opening some state companies to private shareholders.



Authorities say the reforms are meant to preserve socialism, not abandon it.