By Dave Sherwood
HAVANA, June 18 (Reuters) - Cuban lawmakers are set to vote on Thursday on sweeping measures proposed by top Communist Party officials and backed by former leader Raul Castro that aim to rescue an economy under siege by the administration of U.S. President Donald Trump.
Cuban President Miguel Diaz-Canel told the Communist Party politburo on Wednesday that the measures are urgent and necessary as the U.S. doubles down on sanctions aimed at crippling the country's communist leadership.
“We need to unleash production, to have more output and less restriction," Diaz-Canel said in a speech aired on Thursday morning.
The government has yet to provide any specific details of the reforms, their timing or how they will be carried out. The vote of the National Assembly is largely expected to be a rubber stamp in a one-party system that often votes unanimously on government proposals.
Party officials have branded the reforms as sweeping but still loyal to the government's socialist roots. They say they plan to open the economy further to private investment, liberalize agriculture, attract more capital from Cubans living abroad and shrink the state.
Many of these open-ended proposals have lingered for months or years and have yet to be implemented, but pressure from the United States has once again pushed them to the fore.
Raul Castro - indicted in May in the United States on murder charges - backed the proposals in a written letter presented to the politburo on Wednesday, calling them "beneficial" and urging their speedy implementation.
The Trump administration sanctions have devastated Cuba's already ailing economy, preventing oil from reaching the island, forcing an exodus of foreign businesses and decimating the all-important tourism industry.
Days-long blackouts, soaring inflation and shortages of fuel, water and medicine have led to widespread suffering.
(Reporting by Dave Sherwood; Editing by Daniel Wallis)
