From the stock market to solar energy: The businesses that Miami entrepreneurs are preparing for a Cuba without the regime

Cuban-American businessmen in Miami are preparing plans to invest in strategic sectors of the Cuban economy in the face of the possibility of political change on the island.

Among its proposals are the creation of a stock exchangethe recovery of old sugar mills and the development of energy related businessesthe agriculture and the water supply.

According to a BBC World report Posted October 5, some of Florida’s wealthiest Cuban-American families and businessmen have gathered to discuss economic opportunities in an eventual post-communist Cuba.

The initiative is led by the Cuban American National Chamber of Commerce (Cancc), chaired by Juan Omar Sixto.

Miami businessmen prepare the ground to invest in Cuba

The organization has held several meetings with exile members who are prominent figures in the business world in the United States. “The goal is to be in Cuba once the regime falls,” Sixto declared.

The businessman assured that his organization maintains contacts with people close to the US Secretary of State, Marco Rubioalthough no official agreements have been announced linking the United States Government with these private initiatives.

Sixto also made it clear that he does not contemplate investing while the current Cuban government remains in place. “Along with the delivery of humanitarian aid and medical supplies, we would go to do business in Cuba immediately,” he said.

The Cancc has begun to organize specialized committees and prepare proposals for sectors considered essential in a future economic recovery. However, its members recognize that any investment will depend on the existing political and legal conditions on the island.

What are the businesses that you prepare from Miami?

The plans cover different economic activities. Some have preliminary proposals, while others are opportunities identified as priority to invest during an eventual transition.

1. Cuban stock market: The Cancc has prepared a proposal to establish a stock market that allows channeling investments, facilitating the financing of companies and attracting private capital.
2. Reconstruction of the electrical network: The organization has created an energy infrastructure committee. The modernization of thermoelectric plants, distribution networks and generation systems would open opportunities for engineering, construction and maintenance companies.
3. Agriculture and food production: Entrepreneurs consider it a priority to incorporate capital, machinery and technology to recover productive lands, increase harvests and reduce dependence on imports.
4. Recovery of sugar mills: Former owners seek to reactivate facilities and recover land from mills nationalized after 1959, although they would not be destined exclusively to produce sugar.
5. Ethanol production: An alternative is to convert sugar facilities to manufacture biofuels and take advantage of their industrial infrastructure.
6. Electricity cogeneration: The old Cuban industrial complexes could be used to produce electricity and thermal energy, diversifying their activities.
7. Solar energy: Another line of work seeks to promote investments in renewable energy, install solar panels on land of former sugar mills and develop generation projects at the forefront of the sector.
8. Water purification: It is planned to take advantage of existing industrial facilities to develop water treatment and supply systems.
9. Turismo: The recovery of this industry appears as an opportunity to attract investments, although the report does not identify specific tourism projects.

The question of ownership will be decisive. Some businessmen demand compensation for assets confiscated after 1959, while recognizing the need to establish legal mechanisms that avoid harming the families who currently occupy those properties.

Marco Rubio and the plans to rebuild the Cuban economy

The US Secretary of State, Marco Rubiowarned during the 81st UN General Assembly that the current Cuban political and economic model constitutes an obstacle to attracting foreign investments.

«Nobody is going to invest in Cuba under its current government model. They are simply not going to do it,” he said in statements released by the State Department.

Rubio questioned the lack of guarantees for the private sector and raised the example of a foreign businessman willing to invest 10 million dollars, but exposed to the authorities unilaterally changing the rules and appropriating his investment.

These concerns coincide with those expressed by Cuban-American businessmen and specialists who work from Miami on proposals to rebuild the island.

In July, CiberCuba reported on an expert forum in infrastructure, economics, engineering and law, dedicated to preparing a roadmap for an eventual Cuban democratic transition.

The scope of the plans goes far beyond business investments. The experts raised a comprehensive reconstruction of Cubawhich would include:

• Electrical system: in a period of three to five years.
• Water and sewer: an initial recovery of two years and up to a decade to achieve stable service.
• Infrastructure: rehabilitation of roads, ports, railways and cities.
• Dwelling: programs to address a deficit estimated at one million homes.
• Legal security: guarantees for private property and investments.
• Economic reactivation: initial boost to tourism and ports to generate income.
• Energy sector: modernization of refineries and fuel supply.

The researcher Jorge Piñon He estimated that recovering the electrical system would require between 5,000 and 8,000 million dollars. The engineer Josenrique Cueto The rehabilitation of the drinking water and sewage systems was estimated at around 8,000 million.

Specialists placed the cost of a comprehensive reconstruction of Cuba between 275,000 and 375,000 million dollars, distributed over a period of 10 to 15 years.

For now, business initiatives remain proposals and potential opportunities, not approved investments. Its execution would depend on an eventual political transition in Cubathe existence of guarantees for private property and the ability to attract capital that allows the deteriorated Cuban economy to recover.