Carolina de la Pedraja – Cuba, the Caribbean island just ninety miles off the coast of Florida, is currently adjusting to safeguard the existence of its economic regime in a modernized world. On December 17, 2014, former President Obama announced that the United States and Cuba would begin to mend their relations. Extreme changes were foreseeable among the neighboring countries. In November of 2016, Communist-run Cuba said it was working on “speeding up the slow pace of negotiations with foreign investors to help it come closer to meeting its target of $2 billion in investment annually to update the economy.” However, Obama’s move to normalize Cuban relations did not slow repression by the Castro regime. In contrast, President Donald Trump’s administration is taking a tougher stance on the United States’ relationship with Cuba.
Critics of the budding relations between the two countries say that the U.S. money now flowing into Cuba is actually being pocketed by Cuban intelligence and military officials instead of benefiting Cuban entrepreneurs. Additionally, critics also say Raúl Castro, the head of the Cuban communist regime, has repressed the Cuban people even more since the resumption of diplomatic ties with Washington. Ana Quintana, an analyst on Latin America at the Heritage Foundation, stated that former President Obama’s plan was originally intended to help the Cuban people by providing greater freedoms but the United States are not getting concessions from the Cuban government. Furthermore, the groups who have benefited the most from the normalization of U.S. Cuba relations have been the Cuban military and government.
Cuba’s only hope at assimilating into the changing world economy and freeing itself from relying on others is establishing and committing to a modernized economic system, including favorable and transparent foreign investment prospects for interested investors. Although former President Obama’s use of executive orders allowed more trade with Cuba, trade is still limited. Currently, U.S. companies are allowed to invest in the telecommunications industry and are able to participate in infrastructure projects and hotel management agreements. Despite the relaxation of trade regulations between the U.S. and Cuba, actual participation has stalled. Even though the changes implemented by the Obama administration have been monumental, the changes are a result of executive orders, which are subject to change or elimination by the new Trump administration. Undoubtedly, the potential reversal of the orders adds even more uncertainty and creates an enormous risk for both Cuban and United States firms. Although U.S. and Cuban relations have softened, they are still not perfect, and unfortunately might not be for a very long time.
