Cuba Emerges From Another Blackout and Tries to Woo Exile Investors

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(Bloomberg) — Cuba began to claw its way out of another national blackout on Tuesday as the government, under heavy US pressure, said it’s opening its economy to the Cuban diaspora — a longtime demand of the Miami exile community.

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Under new measures announced late Monday, Cubans living abroad will be allowed for the first time to invest and take a stake in private companies on the island, Minister of Foreign Trade and Investment Oscar Pérez-Oliva Fraga told state-run newspaper Granma. 

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The new law would also allow exiles to establish investment banks and other non-bank financial institutions. Pérez-Oliva Fraga said the government’s priority is attracting investment in Cuba’s agricultural sector.

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“Cuba’s doors are open to investors from the Cuban community that lives abroad,” Pérez-Oliva Fraga said. “We’re not just talking about small enterprise, but also the possibility of of being able to participate in key sectors of our development.”

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Cuba’s economy is in a tailspin and the nation is under intense pressure from Donald Trump’s administration. The US president told reporters Monday that he believes he’ll have “the honor of taking Cuba” soon, saying he could “free it, take it — I can do anything I want.”

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The precariousness of the island of 10 million people was on full display earlier, when it suffered another national blackout, at least the sixth such outage in the span of a year. 

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On Tuesday morning, Cuba’s energy ministry said it had restored the grid in the capital of Havana and across most of the country from Pinar del Río, in the west, to Holguíin in the east. It also said it had brought a number of microgrids back online. 

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Cuba’s energy infrastructure is caught in the pincers of lack of fuel and the breakdown of its aging power plants. The US has had a de facto fuel blockade in place since January and Havana claims that Washington’s long-running economic embargo keeps it from being able to adequately maintain its energy infrastructure. 

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It’s unclear how much new investment might flow into the country where the state is the major economic player. Much will also depend on the detailed regulations that prop-up the new plan. 

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It’s also unclear if it will help appease Washington. Cuba confirmed for the first time last week that talks between the two sides are underway. And the New York Times reported Monday that the US has told the Cubans that President Miguel Díaz-Canel must leave his post before any progress can be made. 

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While the island has said it’s willing to talk, Havana maintains that its economy and political system aren’t up for negotiation. 

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US officials have been speaking mainly with Raúl Guillermo Rodríguez Castro, the grandson of Raúl Castro — a 94-year-old former Cuban president and brother of late revolutionary leader Fidel Castro. Pérez-Oliva Fraga, a Castro nephew who also serves as deputy prime minister, is emerging as another key figure within the Cuban leadership. 

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