(Seoul = News 1) Reporter Kim Kyung-min = President Donald Trump is expected to have difficulty attracting investment from U.S. companies in Cuba, U.S. political media Politico reported on the 25th (local time).
According to Politico, large private sector investments are needed in Cuba under communism to build a "better future" in Cuba, as planned by the Trump administration, but U.S. companies remain cautious.
Cuba's communist regime suffered a significant contraction in the private sector and caused the collapse of public facilities due to long-term power.
"Cuba is a country that needs 100 percent reconstruction," said Horacio Garcia Jr., a Cuban-American businessman who lives in Miami and participates in the Cuban Freedom Committee for democracy. "We don't have even basic infrastructure, including water and electricity. We don't have a fair financial system."
"We have to start everything all over again," he said, adding, "It's literally a ruined place."
In addition, unlike Venezuela, where the oil industry is a major economic engine, Cuba does not have a single industry that President Trump can utilize, Politico said.
Moreover, attempts to open Cuba come with a historical burden. First, the demand for the return of exiled Cubans' confiscated property must be lifted. American Cubans who had their property confiscated fled to the United States in the 1960s, while the Castro regime nationalized American corporations and American Cubans' property.
Since then, laws enacted in the United States in 1996 have allowed individuals and companies whose properties were confiscated after the Cuban Revolution to file lawsuits against companies that profit from those properties, further complicating the counting law.
In fact, American Airlines and the Spanish hotel chain concluded a lawsuit filed by a Cuban-American who inherited his recently confiscated property with an agreement.
The U.S. Chamber of Commerce is concerned that the legal environment could expose U.S. companies to various lawsuits.
In order to promote business activities, the complex decades-long sanctions against Cuba must be lifted. For this, there is a possibility that it will have to be approved by the U.S. Congress, the media explained.
In addition to the uncertainty, several U.S. companies are reluctant to come forward publicly because failure to deliver on their promises could blind the eyes of President Trump.
John Kaburic, chairman of the U.S.-Cuba Trade and Economic Council, said, "Everyone is waiting quietly because the risk is too high."
The shortest distance from Florida in the U.S. is only about 145 kilometers. Without the participation of the United States, Cuba could be reduced to a dangerous impoverished country adjacent to the United States, leaving it out of control.
"Cuba is a very complex and subtle place," said Mark Entwistle, former Canadian ambassador to Cuba. "Every issue has a complex background and endless intertwining problems."
Senator Rick Scott, Republican of Florida, said, "I've been building and investing my business all my life. I'm not going to invest at my risk unless I'm an idiot."
Cuba needs "definitive democracy and rule of law," he said, noting that "otherwise, people will not invest a lot of money."
Reporter Kim Kyung-min (kmkim@news1.kr )
“It seems the next target might be Cuba.
Whether through economic exploitation by the United States or by combining military means,
in the end, it looks like measures will be taken one by one against America’s enemies.
I suspect the midterm elections may even be outside their focus.
Trump’s drive for maximum profit could be realized.
We must remember that this is inevitably a time of constant risk.”