Deputy Prime Minister Oscar Perez-Oliva announced that Cubans abroad can partner with private and state businesses in Cuba, open bank accounts, and receive land in usufruct. The measures aim to attract diaspora financing amid US sanctions. The announcement follows Havana's recent admission of dialogue with Washington.
On March 16, 2026, during the Mesa Redonda broadcast, Oscar Perez-Oliva, deputy prime minister and minister of Foreign Trade and Foreign Investment, stated that Cubans living abroad can form partnerships with private and state businesses in Cuba through various arrangements. These are not limited to micro, small, or medium-sized enterprises (MSME) but extend to large-scale projects like infrastructure, tourism, mining, and energy, according to the official, grand-nephew of Fidel and Raul Castro. They can also open foreign-currency accounts in Cuban banks and receive land in usufruct for productive ventures, particularly in agriculture. Perez-Oliva said Cuba is open to fluid commercial ties with US companies and Cubans in the United States despite sanctions. In an NBC News interview hours earlier, he confirmed the regime will allow investments in the private sector. The statements come three days after Havana admitted initiating dialogue with Washington, previously denied. Current laws bar Cubans abroad from MSME partnerships but allow involvement in joint or foreign ventures. Leader Miguel Diaz-Canel previewed such measures on March 13. Lawyer Eloy Viera Canive of elTOQUE Juridico sees it as an effort to normalize ties with the diaspora, a key remittance source amid economic crisis, but notes contradictions with migration laws passed two years ago yet not implemented, viewing them as controlled gestures for political and economic survival.