Cuba's leaders fear that more economic freedom would lead to political liberalization

See Cuba Leaves Castro Era With Slim Prospects for Change by José de Córdoba of The WSJ. Milton Friedman thought that economic freedom was necessary for political freedom to exist. It is a necessary but not a sufficient condition. Excerpts:

"Cuba’s communist leaders are dedicated to maintaining their one-party system and reasserting state control of the economy after a brief surge in private enterprise fueled by the restart of diplomatic relations with the U.S. in 2015.

Mr. Castro’s likely successor, Miguel Díaz-Canel, a 57-year-old party apparatchik, has excoriated small-business owners as enemies of the state and said the U.S. opening to Cuba under President Barack Obama was meant to “destroy the Cuban revolution.”"

"But the Obama detente spurred a backlash from alarmed regime stalwarts scared that more economic freedom would lead to political liberalization. Last year, the government stopped issuing new licenses for restaurants and other businesses as officials railed against the new entrepreneurial class.

Mr. Castro himself, despite being the architect of the modest economic reforms that enabled private jobs, lashed out at the new entrepreneurs.

“There are reports of cases where the same person has two, three, four and as many as five restaurants,” he said in a speech to the National Assembly last year. “Someone who has traveled abroad as many as 30 times. Where did he get the money?”"