The successful Cuban-American businessman Sergio Pinoassured that the Havana government will set traps to take advantage of the economic measures recently approved by the Joe Biden Administration.
However, Pino believes that the Cuban people can receive benefits. “The Havana regime will try to penetrate. Of course there will be traps, but these measures are still something positive,” the millionaire told Univision News.
This Tuesday the Treasury Department announced a group of economic measures to support Cuban entrepreneurs. Among them is the authorization for private entrepreneurs to open bank accounts in the United States.
The term “independent private sector entrepreneurs” is also expanded, “U-turn” transactions are reinstated to facilitate remittances and payments from the United States to Cuba, and progress is expected in promoting Internet freedom on the island.
“From what I understand, they are accounts for SMEs, for businessmen, and nothing linked to the Government of Cuba. Therefore, I think it is a step forward,” said Pino, who in September 2023 hosted in his mansion in Miami to more than 70 private entrepreneurs from Cuba.
Los MSME owners They see business opportunities expanding with the measures of the Biden Administration, but not everything is rosy. A sector of the opposition in Miami warns about the dangers of trusting the regime.
Biden’s new measures exclude a series of political actors and Cuban government officials, considering them “forbidden”. They are registered with an extensive list of people.
The list includes ministers and vice ministers; members of the Council of State, the Council of Ministers and the National Assembly of People’s Power; employees of the Ministry of the Interior and the Armed Forces, the Supreme Court, as well as state organizations and media.
The Cuban government considers “limited” US measures to support private sector entrepreneurs, because “they do not touch the fundamental body of the blockade against Cuba or additional sanctions.”
Bruno Rodríguez Parrilla assured that these provisions do not reverse the impact of the embargo on Cuban families. The foreign minister complained once again that the US government maintains the inclusion of Cuba on the list of State Sponsors of Terrorism.
On both sides of the Florida Strait there is expectation and distrust with the measures. It is believed that few banks in the US will be willing to work with Cuban businessmen due to the high perception of risk and the fact that Cuba remains on the list of countries that sponsor terrorism.
Furthermore, a change in administration could reverse these measures if Donald Trump wins the elections in November. Restrictions have been lifted, but it will be up to private banking institutions to decide whether they react with enthusiasm or reluctance, depending on the fine print of the regulations.
