Cuba Plans to Let U.S.-Based Cuban Nationals Invest Amid Trump Pressure and Fuel Shortages

Cuba’s deputy prime minister Oscar Pérez-Oliva Fraga says Havana will, for the first time, allow Cuban nationals living abroad — including in the United States — and their descendants to invest in companies on the island, with the new policy slated for announcement Monday night. In an NBC interview cited by CBS, he said the government wants 'fluid commercial' ties not only with U.S. firms but also with Cuban Americans and is open to both small investments and large infrastructure projects, a major shift after decades of tight state control and a ban on most private enterprise until 2021. The move comes as Cuba’s energy grid teeters, public protests mount, and the Trump administration threatens steep tariffs on any country shipping oil to Cuba, a tactic that has further choked fuel supplies after Venezuelan shipments dried up. Trump has publicly called Cuba a 'failed nation,' suggested a 'friendly takeover' is possible, claimed the U.S. and Cuba are talking, and boasted he could 'do anything' with the island once he finishes dealing with the Iran war, rhetoric that looks a lot like pressure to force political change in Havana. For U.S. readers — especially Cuban Americans — the policy dangles new investment opportunities that may be largely theoretical for now, given tight U.S. sanctions and a State Department blacklist on doing business with Cuban entities tied to the military or intelligence services.