Cuba passes nearly 200 free-market reforms as U.S. oil blockade deepens economic crisis

Cuba has approved its largest-ever set of free-market reforms as it seeks to avert an economic collapse, driven by a U.S. oil blockade imposed in January. The blockade has left the island with only one Russian oil tanker docking all year, worsening long blackouts and severe shortages of fuel and medicine. The United Nations has warned that children are dying due to a lack of medical supplies. The reforms open the door to foreign stakes in state firms and remove the joint-venture requirement, but they have not resolved the immediate energy supply disruption.