HAVANA — Cuban nationals living abroad in places such as Miami will be allowed to invest in the private sector and own businesses in their homeland, the country's economic czar has told NBC News in an exclusive interview.
Oscar Pérez-Oliva Fraga, Cuba's deputy prime minister, said that a "blockade" by the United States is hampering these efforts as the island grapples with an energy crisis, rare violent protests and public pressure from the Trump administration.
“Cuba is open to having a fluid commercial relationship with U.S. companies" and "also with Cubans residing in the United States and their descendants," Fraga said in a sit-down in Havana, ahead of announcing the news to his country Monday night.
The interview, his first, comes as Fraga tries to breathe life into Cuba's ailing economy with a series of economic reforms aimed at creating what he called a “dynamic business environment.” The aim would be to revive a range of sectors, from tourism and mining to fixing and updating the antiquated power grid.
"This extends beyond the commercial sphere," added Fraga, who also serves as Cuba's minister of foreign trade and investment. "It also applies to investments — not only small investments, but also large investments, particularly in infrastructure.”
The Miami Herald reported Friday, citing an unnamed source, that the investment news was expected.
However, “the United States blockade, the policy of hostility against Cuba, is undoubtedly an element that affects the development of these transformations," Fraga said, referring to these attempts to develop economic ties with the U.S.
"The blockade deprives us of access to financing, access to technology, access to markets, and in recent years, it has specifically been aimed at depriving our country of access to fuel.”
Authorities say no petroleum shipments have arrived in Cuba in the past three months.
The U.S. embargo on the island currently restricts most travel and commercial trade with Cuba and would require an act of Congress to be overturned officially. There are special licenses that can be granted by the U.S. government allowing Americans to invest in Cuba’s private sector, and some Cuban exiles currently operate businesses in Cuba, overtly or otherwise.
On Friday, the Cuban government confirmed for the first time that it was holding talks with the administration of President Donald Trump, who has warned the communist country that it could face a fate similar to that of Venezuela's Nicolás Maduro.
Trump has previously said that Cuba "is going to fall pretty soon" unless it makes a deal with him, and has suggested he could perform a "friendly takeover" of the island nation. "I think we will pretty soon either make a deal or do whatever we have to do," Trump told reporters aboard Air Force One late Sunday.
He has hinted he will turn his attention more firmly to Cuba after the war in Iran.
Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores, were captured in an American raid in Caracas in early January. They were taken to the United States where they were charged with conspiracy to import cocaine and possession of machine guns and destructive devices. Maduro faces an additional federal charge of narco-terrorism conspiracy.
That operation saw critical oil shipments halted between Venezuela and Cuba, which accuses Washington of blockading supplies as the U.S. military has prevented tankers from reaching Cuban shores.
Cuban President Miguel Díaz-Canel said Friday that not a single shipment has reached his shores in the past three months, creating an island-wide energy crisis that has caused blackouts and forced hospitals to postpone surgeries.
That has caused violent protests, according to the state-run newspaper Invasor, exceedingly rare in this one-party state.
A peaceful demonstration in the city of Moron turned violent Saturday when demonstrators threw stones at the Municipal Party Committee building and started a fire in the street, the newspaper reported.
George Solis reported from Havana, and Alexander Smith from London.
