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It Turns out Cuba Actually Needs the Rest of the World

By Roberto A. Ferdman

This is the first time the Cuban government has opened its doors to a legislation that’s a direct philosophical challenge to the revolution, explains AS/COA’s Christopher Sabatini.

Cuba is warming up to capitalism.

The country’s National Assembly is set to approve a piece of landmark legislation over the weekend that will slash the country’s tax on foreign companies’ corporate profits in half, to 15%, and allow them to withhold those tax payments for as long as eight years, local news outlet Juventud Rebelde first reported on Wednesday (link in Spanish)....

“This is the first time in decades that the Cuban government has opened its doors,” Christopher Sabatini, senior director at the Americas Society and Council of the Americas, told Quartz. “In many ways, it’s a very direct philosophical challenge to the very foundations of the revolution.” Cuba last pivoted in the direction of capitalism when it lowered the corporate profits tax for foreign firms to 30% in 1995....

Until now, that is. The new law will not, at least immediately, affect the US—since its embargo on economic ties with Cuba still persists, prohibiting American companies from doing business there. But it’s a big deal for virtually every other country—especially those interested in expanding their foothold in the Cuban economy ahead of its slow but sure exit from insularity. It’s a longer-term bet, but there’s an expectation among foreign companies that even the US embargo is likely to be lifted sooner or later, according to Sabatini....

Read the full article here.

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