Cuba is undertaking an internal and external adaptation process to ensure the survival of its economic and
political model in a globalised world. In spite of the ongoing restrictions imposed on trade, investment and
mobility by its most powerful neighbour, the U.S., Cuba has succeeded in forming new alliances with its
regional neighbours that have shown an economic and/or political interest in the future of the current
Cuban system. The effects of limited political reform and the limited lifting of communication and travel
restrictions have increased relations with the Cuban community abroad. The success of economic reform
measures depends not only on the still-missing internal consensus of a fairly divided Cuban society, but
also on the external cooperation of both friends and foes in the international community. The reintegration
efforts with the global North (the European Union and U.S.) seem to be one of the strategies for updating
the island’s economic model and contributing to a gradual reform of its political model.