News

Supporting Cuba’s Entrepeneurs

By: Caribbean Journal Staff - February 13, 2015 - 5:55 pm

Above: Havana

By the Caribbean Journal staff

The United States’ approach to Cuba in large part about “empowering the Cuban people and Cuban civil society,” the State Department said Friday in a statement.

The State Department said in a media note that the country’s recent rapprochement with its Caribbean neighbour, including regulatory changes issued by the Department of Commerce and the Treasury, “create new opportunities for Cuba’s nascent private sector.”

“These measures will help independent Cuban entrepreneurs access the information and resources they need to improve their living standards and gain greater economic independence from the state,” the department said.

On Friday, the State Department issued a new list characterizing goods and services produced by independent Cuban entrepreneurs that can now be imported into the United States.

Crucially, though, any importer of such goods must obtain “documentary evidence” that the goods were produced by an independent Cuban entrepeneur — ie, that the entrepeneur is a private entity not owned or controlled by the Cuban government.

At this point, though, it’s not clear whether Cuba’s government will actually allow independent entrepreneurs to export goods to the US.

“We cannot predict what the Cuban government will or will not allow, but we sincerely hope that it makes this and other new opportunities available to Cuba’s nascent private sector,” the government said. “This is another measure intended to support the ability of the Cuban people to gain greater control over their own lives and determine their country’s future.”

The US was vague on the specific kinds of goods that might be exported (the list referred to those items whose export was prohibited); the State Department said the private sector included “self-employed individuals, private small businesses, and private cooperatives that are independent of Cuba’s state sector.”

As of last month, Americans can now send unlimited remittances to individual Cubans to support private businesses and even engage in certain micro-finance activities and the like.

Popular Posts st kitts fortress

The Caribbean’s Hottest New Restaurant Is at a Centuries-Old Fortress in St Kitts

It’s one of the most stunning locations in the Caribbean: Brimstone Hill, the towering fortress in the mountains of St Kitts, a centuries-old UNESCO World Heritage Site.  And now it’s the home of the hottest new restaurant in the Caribbean.  […]


Jamaica Just Got an Upgraded US Travel Advisory: “A Great Step Forward” 

seven mile beach white sand

Last year’s US Travel Advisory led to a slowdown in tourist arrivals to Jamaica. But in what’s hoped to be a major shift, the US State Department just upgraded Jamaica’s rating.  Jamaica’s travel advisory has improved from Level 3 to […]


One of the Best Beaches in The Bahamas Comes With a World-Famous Blue Hole

the beach at dean's blue hole in the bahamas

It doesn’t look real at first. You step out from the pines and palms onto a curve of soft, white sand, and there it is—this perfect, impossible circle in the sea. A portal. The blue gets darker the longer you […]


Related Posts regent seven seas suite

This 9,000-Square-Foot Cruise Ship Suite Will Cost You $25,000 Per Night

It’s the kind of suite that redefines luxury at sea — not with gimmicks, but with scale, privacy, and meticulous detail. At nearly 9,000 square feet, the newly unveiled Skyview Regent Suite aboard Regent Seven Seas Cruises’ forthcoming Seven Seas Prestige is the largest […]


JetBlue Launches First-Ever Honduras Route With New York to San Pedro Sula Flights

honduras jetblue new flight

JetBlue has officially launched its first-ever service to Honduras, with a new daily nonstop route between New York’s John F. Kennedy International Airport and San Pedro Sula, a city that is heating up — with another new flight launched this […]


Aman to Launch First Janu Resort in the Caribbean With Turks and Caicos Project

janu turks and caicos

Aman Group is expanding its lifestyle hotel brand Janu into the Caribbean, with a newly announced project on the northwest coast of Providenciales in Turks and Caicos, Caribbean Journal Invest has learned. The project, set on a secluded stretch of […]