Cubans Living Abroad to Be Allowed to Invest in Private Businesses on Island, Official Says

Cuba plans to allow expatriates to invest in and own businesses, part of broader reforms aimed at reviving the communist-run island’s struggling economy.
Cubans Living Abroad to Be Allowed to Invest in Private Businesses on Island, Official Says
A man pushes a tricycle past a jeep sporting a wheel cover with an image based on the US flag, in Havana, Cuba, on Jan. 23, 2026. Yamil Lage/AFP/Getty Images
Tom Ozimek
Tom Ozimek
Reporter
|Updated:
0:00

Cubans living abroad, including in the United States, will soon be allowed to invest in and own businesses in Cuba’s private sector, a senior government official said, as Havana seeks new sources of capital amid a deepening economic crisis and fragile talks with Washington.

Óscar Pérez-Oliva Fraga, Cuba’s deputy prime minister and minister of foreign trade and investment, told NBC News in an exclusive interview published on March 16 that Cuban nationals residing overseas—including those in Miami—will be permitted to participate directly in the island’s emerging private economy.

Tom Ozimek
Tom Ozimek
Reporter
Tom Ozimek is a senior reporter for The Epoch Times. He has a broad background in journalism, deposit insurance, marketing and communications, and adult education.
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