Cuba will allow nationals living abroad to invest in and own businesses on the island, economic czar tells NBC News
HAVANA — Cuban nationals living abroad in places like Miami will be allowed to invest in the private sector and own businesses in their country, the country’s economic czar told NBC News in an exclusive interview.
Oscar Pérez-Oliva Fraga, Cuba’s deputy prime minister, said a “blockade” by the United States is hampering those efforts as the island grapples with an energy crisis, rare violent protests and public pressure from the Trump administration.
“Cuba is open to maintaining smooth commercial relations with American companies” and “also with Cubans residing in the United States and their descendants,” Fraga said during a meeting in Havana, before announcing the news to his country on Monday evening.
The interview, his first ever, comes as Fraga attempts to revive Cuba’s ailing economy with a series of economic reforms aimed at creating what he calls a “dynamic business environment.” The aim would be to revive a range of sectors, from tourism and mining to repairing and updating the dilapidated power grid.
“This goes beyond the commercial sphere,” added Fraga, who is also Cuba’s Minister of Foreign Trade and Investment. “This also applies to investments – not just small investments, but also large investments, especially in infrastructure.”
The news was first reported by the Miami Herald, citing an anonymous source.
However, “the blockade of the United States, the policy of hostility against Cuba, is undoubtedly an element that affects the development of these transformations,” Fraga said, referring to these attempts to develop economic ties with the United States.
“The blockade deprives us of access to finance, access to technology, access to markets and, in recent years, it has specifically aimed at depriving our country of access to fuel.”
Authorities say no oil shipments have arrived in Cuba in the past three months.
The Cuban government confirmed for the first time on Friday that it was in talks with the administration of President Donald Trump, who has warned the communist country that it could face a fate similar to that of Venezuela’s Nicolas Maduro.
Trump has previously said Cuba “is going to fall soon” unless a deal is reached with it, and suggested he could carry out a “friendly takeover” of the island nation. “I think we’re going to either make a deal very soon or do whatever we have to do,” Trump told reporters aboard Air Force One Sunday evening.
He hinted that he would focus more attention on Cuba after the war in Iran.
Maduro was captured during a US raid on Caracas in early January. He was taken to the United States where he and his wife, Cilia Flores, were charged with conspiracy to import cocaine and possession of machine guns and destructive devices. Maduro faces an additional federal charge of narcoterrorist conspiracy.
The operation saw a halt to essential oil shipments between Venezuela and Cuba, which accuses Washington of blocking supplies as the US military blocked tankers from reaching Cuban shores.
Cuban President Miguel Díaz-Canel said Friday that no shipments had reached his shores in the past three months, creating an island-wide energy crisis that has caused power outages and forced hospitals to postpone surgeries.
This provoked violent protests, according to the official Invasor newspaper, extremely rare in the one-party state.
A peaceful protest in the town of Moron turned violent on Saturday when demonstrators threw stones at the municipal Party committee building and started a fire in the street, the newspaper reported.
George Solis and Mary Murray reported from Havana and Alexander Smith from London.
