Cuba Foreign Minister In Interview Reinforces Reasons For Unease By U.S. Companies Toward Cuba- Despite Their Wanting To Support Re-Emerging Private Sector.
/Newsweek
Washington DC
26 September 2024
Excerpts
In a wide-ranging interview conducted on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly in New York, Cuban Foreign Minister Bruno Rodríguez Parrilla outlined a troubling state of global affairs, exacerbated by international conflicts, climate change and economic uncertainty. And while the Cold War that once placed Cuba at the forefront of nuclear brinkmanship has long passed, he argued that the nation continued to directly suffer the effects of a U.S. sanctions campaign first launched more than six decades ago.
Eased under former President Barack Obama and subsequently harshened under former President Donald Trump, the U.S. embargo has largely held throughout the administration of President Joe Biden, who has opted to retain much of his predecessor's most restrictive measures. With Biden soon set to depart as a contentious U.S. election looms, Rodríguez Parrilla saw a missed opportunity to reset ties and attract U.S. investment in Cuba.
“We have been able to make progress in our developments thanks to the cultural, academic, scientific and economic relations that we keep with all the countries of the world. Western Europe and China are important economic partners of Cuba. The American businesspeople could also be the same if not for this policy. During better times, the American farmers have taken advantage of a license that had violated the internationally standard commercial rules, and it was possible for Cuba to import as much as $1 billion in foodstuffs. These figures today are very small. We could retake those figures if they happen to be mutually beneficial.”
LINK: U.S. Agricultural Commodity/Food Product Exports To Cuba Remain Up 25.7%. Vehicle (New, Used, Truck) Exports For 2024 Exceed US$36 Million. Tequila Exported In July 2024. September 05, 2024
“But the most interesting things is that almost half of the Americans visiting Cuba accommodate themselves at small hostels and resort to small private businesses. And this ban on individual travel has led to all these people going into bankruptcy. What could be the logic behind the fact that the U.S. government is taking steps damaging the emerging private sector in Cuba?”
“And, meanwhile, they publish measures that are inapplicable because the oppressive, intimidating effect of the blockade makes it impossible for the owners of small and medium enterprises in Cuba to open a bank account in the U.S.”
“U-turn operations [transactions in which U.S. banks can process U.S. dollar payments involving Cuba that begin and end outside of the U.S.] could not be done before, not even now, because of these measures. And thinking about the possibility of a small Cuban farmer to be able to export directly to the U.S., I mean, this does not happen anywhere in the world.”
”Earlier, you mentioned the need to find a more efficient economic model to adapt to Cuba's current reality and this includes the expansion of private initiatives as well as some recent social reforms, all of which may not be widely covered abroad. But at this challenging time for the Cuban economy, are these plans bearing fruit for the nation?”
“We hope so. It is a need for our economy, and they are part of the design of our model. And these are not overnight measures. They are the result of a previous process. Curiously enough, very little attention was paid outside Cuba to the major development of agriculture production in the hands of private producers, and this has been so for decades. I'm referring to individual farmers or cooperatives. However, the medium and small enterprises have called great attention.”
“We do not have any legislation or any design for the creation of private small and medium sized enterprises, not even the creation of public small and medium sized enterprises. The entrepreneurial system in Cuba is unique. I mean, you do not legislate for public as separate from private enterprises. Some of the actions taken by the U.S. government intend to separate private small and medium sized enterprises from the rest of the Cuban economy and I don't think this will lead to any results.”
LINK: Biden-Harris Administration Approves First Equity Investment Since 1960 In A Private Cuban Company May 10, 2022
LINK: With U.S. Government Authorization For First Direct Equity Investment Into A Private Company In Cuba, Here Is Important Context And Details. About The Parties; About The Message. May 16, 2022
LINK: Biden Administration Will Use Cuba's Authorization Of SMSE's As Means To Expand Support For Cuba Private Sector- U.S. Investments And Loans May Be Next June 02, 2021
“It is, in fact, an international experience and there are very good examples in Cuba of the way in which either public or private small and medium sized enterprises have achieved very good results. For example, in the area of technology, in the development of software and applications, the Cuban biopharmaceutical industry or the genetic engineering industry are competitive in the world. They are among the best on the planet. They have produced some technologies that do not exist in the U.S. They manufactured better COVID vaccines as compared to the American vaccines, and this has been shown according to the immunization data.”
LINK: "Publication of New Frequently Asked Question (FAQ) on Basic Information and Updated FAQs on Cuba Sanctions" August 27, 2024
LINK: Cuba Again Constricts Re-Emerging Private Sector Embracing "Can't Live With It, Can't Live Without It" Strategy. Another Opportunity For Biden-Harris Administration To Embrace "Crock Pot" Theory August 22, 2024
LINK: For Cuba: Biden-Harris Administration Should Implement Crock Pot Theory And Quid Pro Quo With Quo Not Giving What Quid Wants. Jul 21, 2024
“There are small windows requiring specific licenses in order to carry out joint work on a couple of Cuban scientific results or technologies. It would be very possible to do that on a broader scale. But today the factor that determines the condition of the Cuban economy is the tightening of the blockade. This coincides over time.”
