Title II. Economic Foundations
Article 18
The Republic of Cuba is governed by a socialist economic system based on ownership by all people of the fundamental means of production as the primary form of property as well as the planned direction of the economy, which considers, regulates, and monitors the economy according to the interests of the society.
Article 19
The State directs, regulates, and monitors economic activity, reconciling national, territorial, collective, and individual interests for the benefit of society.
Socialist planning constitutes the central component of the system of governance for economic and social development. Its essential function is to design and conduct strategic development, planning for relevant balances between resources and needs.
Article 20
Workers participate in the processes of economic planning, regulation, management, and monitoring.
The law regulates the participation of labor collectives in the administration and management of state-governed business entities and budgetary units.
Article 21
The State promotes the advance of science, technology, and innovation as indispensable elements of economic and social development.
It also implements forms of organization, financing, and management of scientific activity, and fosters the systematic and accelerated introduction of its results into service and production processes, within the appropriate institutional and regulatory framework.
Article 22
The following are recognized as forms of property:
- Socialist property of the entire population: in which the State acts as a representative and beneficiary of the people as property owner.
- Cooperative property: that which is sustained through the collective labor of partner owners and through the effective exercise of the principles of cooperativism.
- Property of political, social, and mass organizations: ownership that they exercise over their goods designed to fulfill their roles.
- Private ownership: that which is exercised over specific means of production by natural or legal persons, Cubans or foreigners; with a complementary role in the economy.
- Mixed property: that which is formed through the combination of two or more forms of ownership.
- Institutional and associative property: that which these groups exercise over their goods for non-profit purposes.
- Personal property: that which is exercised over one’s belongings that, without constituting means of production, contribute to the satisfaction of the material and spiritual necessities of their owner.
All forms of ownership over means of production interact in similar ways; the State regulates and monitors the way in which they contribute to economic and social development.
The exercise and attainment of these forms of ownership are regulated by the law.
Article 23
The following are socialist property of the people: the lands that do not belong to individuals or cooperatives composed of these individuals, the subterranean areas, mineral deposits, the mines, the forests, the waters, the beaches, the means of communication, and the natural resources both living as well as nonliving within the exclusive economic zone of the Republic.
These goods may not be transferred as property to natural or legal persons and are governed by principles that render them unalienable, imprescriptible, and unseizable.
The transfer of other rights not involving the transfer of property of these goods must have prior approval of the Council of State, according to that which is prescribed by law and provided that it is for the purpose of the country’s economic and social development and does not affect the political, economic, or social foundations of the State.
Article 24
Socialist property that belongs to the entire population includes other goods, such as general interest infrastructure, key industries, and economic and social facilities, as well as other goods that are strategic for the country’s economic and social development.
These goods may not be seized and may be transferred as property only in exceptional cases, provided that it is for the purpose of the country’s economic and social development and does not affect the political, economic, and social foundations of the State. They require the prior approval of the Council of Ministers.
The transmission of other rights over these goods and their management will take place according to that which is prescribed by law.
Budgeted institutions and state-governed business entities possess other goods that are socialist property of the entire population, over which the rights that correspond and accord with the provisions of the law are exercised.
Article 25
The state creates budgeted institutions to accomplish essentially state and social functions.
Article 26
The State creates and organizes state-governed business entities with the objective of developing economic activities, such as production or the provision of services.
These entities act in response to the obligations incurred by their patrimony, which are consistent with the limits determined by the law.
The State does not respond to the obligations within the contracts of state-governed business entities, and these entities do not act in response to those of the State.
Article 27
A socialist state business is the primary subject of the national economy. They have autonomy in their administration and management, perform the primary role in the production of goods and services, and comply with their social responsibilities.
The law regulates the principles of their organization and operation.
Article 28
The State promotes and provides guarantees to foreign investment as an important element for the economic development of the country, which is based upon the protection and the rational use of the natural and human resources as well as respect for national sovereignty and independence.
The law establishes regulations with respect to foreign investment within the national territory.
Article 29
Private property over land is regulated by a special framework.
Leasing, sharecropping, and mortgage loans to individuals are prohibited.
The onerous trading or transmission of this good may only be realized in compliance with the requirements established by the law, and without prejudice to the preferential right of the State to the acquisition of land through the payment of a just price.
Non-onerous transfer of ownership or of rights of use and enjoyment of this property is carried out with prior authorization of the competent authority and in accordance with that which is prescribed in the law.
Article 30
The concentration of property in natural or legal non-state persons is regulated by the State, which also guarantees an increasingly just redistribution of wealth in order to conserve the limits that are compatible with the socialist values of equity and social justice.
The law establishes regulations that guarantee its effective enforcement.
Article 31
Labor is a primordial value in our society. It constitutes a right, a social duty, and a source of honor for all people who are able to work.
Paid labor must be the principal source of income that sustains dignified living conditions, allows for the improvement of material and spiritual well-being and the realization of individual, collective, and social projects.
Payment in accordance with the labor performed is complemented by the just and free fulfillment of universal social services and other provisions and benefits.
