Cuba has invited Cuban Americans and other exiles to invest in and own businesses on the island, saying the “doors are open” to a diaspora that has often supported strict sanctions against the Communist government.
Deputy Prime Minister Oscar Perez-Oliva Fraga, who also heads the Ministry of Foreign Trade and Foreign Investment, told state television there were “no limitations” on such participation. He said Cuba was also removing obstacles to US and other foreign investors, while noting that US law and the long-standing embargo still bar many forms of trade and investment.
The move comes as Cuba struggles to revive a collapsed economy made worse by a US-imposed oil blockade and sanctions that officials say have contributed to prolonged blackouts and shortages of fuel, food and medicine. The announcement followed Havana’s acknowledgement that it had begun talks with Washington, and US officials have privately signalled they would seek economic openings as part of any bilateral arrangements.
Allowing emigrants to invest is politically sensitive for Cuba, which has long viewed much of the exile community with suspicion; many exiles have been staunch proponents of the trade embargo. Until recently, only Cubans on the island were permitted to open and operate private businesses—since reforms in 2021—while nationals living abroad remained excluded.
Economist Paolo Spadoni of Augusta University described the policy shift as “pragmatic,” saying it could catalyse deeper US-Cuba economic ties and create opportunities for US companies, even though significant obstacles persist. He also suggested the change might have been more credible had it been initiated independently of intense US pressure.
Perez-Oliva Fraga said that “depending on the scope of the business,” Cubans living abroad could “participate fully in the various areas of the country’s development.” He emphasised the invitation was not limited to small ventures and included larger projects, with particular interest in agriculture. Cuba is exploring arrangements similar to Vietnamese companies producing rice on the island under usufruct agreements, where land remains state-owned.
More than 1 million people have emigrated from Cuba since 2021—the largest exodus since the 1959 revolution—representing a potential source of capital and expertise that Havana has largely left untapped.
The announcement comes amid other pressures: the US has cut off Venezuelan oil shipments to Cuba and threatened tariffs on countries that sell oil to Havana, further straining the island’s energy and investment climate. In recent weeks, US President Donald Trump has made repeated statements about Cuba’s fate and his leverage over the country, saying he expected to have the “honour” of “taking Cuba in some form” and asserting “I can do anything I want.”
