Since 1990 the Cuban economy has faced a crisis comparable with those in Eastern Europe. However, since 1995 approximately, the Cuban reform has been showing significant results in terms of economic recovery and financial adjustment. As is the case with the Chinese reform, the stabilising, privatising and liberalising measures taken in Cuba point to a reform strategy essentially different from that followed in Eastern Europe. This article shows two relevant aspects of the Cuban case: first, the Cuban reform is a transition process toward the market although forced by external circumstances and still at an early developmental stage; second, the Cuban transition is in line with the evolutionary conception of a transition.