Cuba: Long Road
Cuba: Long Road
Para Eric Farnsworth da COA, o Secretário-Geral da OEA Luis Almagro deve enfrentar dificuldades em criar consenso em áreas como na “promoção dos direitos humanos” e na garantia de “eleições livres e justas”.
The thaw between the US and Cuba has started. But much remains to be decided before corporate and institutional investors can dabble freely in the market. By Jennifer P. Roig
Last year, US companies exported just shy of $300 million of goods to Cuba. That was less than a tenth of those shipped to the nearby Bahamas.
Following President Obama’s executive actions aimed at normalizing diplomatic relations with Cuba late last year, expectations for growth in trade and investment between the two countries are growing....
Reality check
But some worry that optimists are jumping the gun, noting that only the US Congress can change the law and members of both parties have criticized Obama’s executive action. Meanwhile, on the other side of the Florida Straits, the legal and bureaucratic framework is not exactly business friendly. "My perception is that Cuba is not ready to accept" the more open framework, says Christopher Wall, partner at the Washington legal firm Pillsbury.
The US has allowed citizens to send money to private Cuban businesses, and to import certain categories of goods from local entrepreneurs. Yet the embargo still bans US companies from investing in the island and makes it difficult for non-US investors.
"We are seeing some foreign investment in Cuba from non-US companies," Alana Tummino, director of policy and head of the Cuba Working Group at the Americas Society and Council of the Americas. "But it is clear that they are not yet flocking to invest in the island. The investment climate in Cuba, even with the new foreign direct investment law, remains complicated."
Tummino refers to legislation the Cuban government passed last year that guaranteed investors tax exemptions on net profits and free transfer abroad of profits in convertible currencies. However, employers are still not free to hire or fire employees, with a state agency running the whole process. Salaries are controlled, and paid in Cuban pesos, posing the question of how to incentivize workers. The new law "does very little to encourage investment" and fails to clarify investors’ rights regarding confiscated property, says Raúl Valdés-Fauli, partner at Florida law firm Fox Rothschild. "Cuba needs to further change its regulations to permit real FDI...."
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