CUBA: May 2023 Cuban Entrepreneur Delegation
Overview:
CEDA hosted a delegation of four Cuban entrepreneurs from June 11 to 15, 2023, in Washington, D.C. The entrepreneurs met with policymakers and shared the ways that U.S. policy affects their businesses and offered recommendations to facilitate greater support for the private sector in Cuba.
Entrepreneurs:
Lauren Fajardo (Co-Founder, Dador), Carlos Gómez (Founder, Wajiros Films), Libre Puente (Co-founder and CEO, TostoneT), Adriana Heredia (Founder, Beyond Roots)
Policy Recommendations:
- Permit private Cuban companies to hold U.S. business bank accounts to pay for the services and supplies they need.
- Remove Cuba from the State Sponsors of Terrorism List (SSOT).
- Increase flexibility in issuing licenses for U.S. citizens to invest and trade with Cuban private businesses.
- Modify commercial import tariffs for all Cuban-made goods from private businesses.
- Ensure clarity and ease for banks and online financial services regarding transactions with individual Cubans and private businesses in Cuba.
- Enable access to training, certification, and licensing services from U.S. platforms and companies.
- Remove restrictions on private and commercial travel to Cuba that have led to a substantial decrease in entrepreneurs’ main source of income and limited their ability to acquire the hard currency necessary to purchase essential materials and inputs for their business operations.
- Restore the 5-year/multiple entry visa eligibility for Cubans to travel to the U.S. for training, business contacts, or the purchasing raw materials and equipment for their businesses.
- Allow private Cuban companies to legally operate in the U.S. with a company that can buy and market their services.
- Enable direct commercial access to popular content distribution platforms like Netflix, Amazon Prime, YouTube, Apple TV, FilmFreeway, and others.
- Grant Cubans access to digital marketing, online payment processing platforms and technologies, and subscription-based platforms such as Shopify, Paypal, and Zoom.
- Grant access to digital cloud services, including websites and software licenses from Adobe, Acid, Apple, GoDaddy, VIMEO, Wetransfer, Envato, and more.