The article considers Cuban external debt. The lawsuit against Cuba filed by a creditor fund in 2023 revealed the grave situation of the issue formed since 1970s.  The exogenous factors that influenced the aggravation of the problem in 2022–2023 are the coronavirus pandemic, which reduced currency income due to a decrease of the tourist flow and export operations; Venezuelan crisis; Brazilian president Jair Bolsonaro policy towards Cuban doctors; US sanctions aggravated by the coming to power of Donald Trump; climate instability. The internal factors are the currency reform and a complex of structural economic reforms that led to a change in the Cuban model of development and enhanced the role of the market. The solution of the problem has become one of the key tasks of the government. Some Cuban economists propose radical measures to tackle this issue, including selling state enterprises in order to pay the debt off. However, the future of the economic system will depend on the decisions of the political leadership of the country and of their readiness to deepen market transformations. 

The research was funded by the Ministry of Science and Higher Education of the Russian Federation, project number 075-15-2020-783 “Postcrisis World Order: Challenges and Technologies, Competition and Cooperation”.