It would also enhance access to U.S. internet-based services, forming part of limited yet timely measures aimed at providing the island’s emerging small businesses with a competitive edge.
On Tuesday, the U.S. Treasury Department unveiled regulatory changes designed to increase American financial support for Cuba’s emerging private sector and improve access to U.S. internet-based services. Officials described these measures as limited but timely, aimed at providing a boost to the island’s nascent small businesses.
For the first time in decades, small entrepreneurs in Communist-run Cuba will be permitted to open and access U.S. bank accounts, following restrictions implemented shortly after Fidel Castro’s 1959 revolution.
These measures will also enable Cuban entrepreneurs to utilize U.S.-based social media platforms, online payment sites, video conferencing, and authentication services—tools previously unavailable to them and significant obstacles for small businesses on the island.
These initiatives are part of the Biden administration’s efforts to support Cuba’s small but rapidly growing private sector, despite the longstanding Cold War-era U.S. embargo that has complicated financial transactions by the Cuban government.
“Today, we are taking a crucial step to support the growth of free enterprise and the entrepreneurial business sector in Cuba,” a senior U.S. official said to reporters on Tuesday.
The Cuban government has not yet responded to requests for comment on these policy changes.
U.S. officials, speaking anonymously, indicated that they aimed to bolster the private sector while ensuring minimal benefits to Cuban authorities.
President Joe Biden, who assumed office in January 2021, initially raised hopes in Cuba for a reversal of the stringent Trump-era policies. However, Cuba’s crackdown on protests in the summer of 2021 prompted the administration to maintain pressure on Havana.
The new measures will exclude Cuban officials, military officers, and other government insiders, aiming to limit the resources available to the Cuban government.
New Cuban laws implemented in 2021 have led to the creation of over 11,000 small businesses by May, according to government reports. These enterprises include corner grocery stores, plumbing services, transportation companies, and construction firms.
As of late 2023, these businesses employed about 15% of the Cuban workforce and contributed approximately 14% to the country’s gross domestic product, based on statistics from the Ministry of Economy.