As the Cuban economy slowly dies from the inexorable grip of communism, the Castro brother dictators have conjured up another idea of attracting foreign business to prop up their moribund economy. One major problem corporations face is that all business deals must go through the communist government or one of its tightly controlled state companies. High taxes, suffocating regulations, past property confiscations are making most foreign companies more than gun-shy to do business with a socialist state. The Castros are fully committed to keeping Cuba a socialist state and are not broadening business opportunities to foreign investors as a step to a free market economy. With so little to gain and so much to lose, perhaps that is why only 30 U.S. companies showed up at the FIHAV event—not exactly sprinting to do business with communist Cuba.

Source: Washington Post June 13, 2024 19:29 UTC