Cuba’s government is taking the unusual step of asking its own exiles in the United States to invest in the island as it navigates its most severe economic collapse since independence. In an interview with NBC on Monday, Deputy Prime Minister Oscar Pérez-Oliva Fraga signaled that the communist nation is now “open” to establishing business ties with American companies and the Cuban diaspora living abroad.
The appeal for foreign capital comes as the island struggles with a total breakdown of its energy grid and widespread food shortages.
On Saturday, the desperation turned into violence in the city of Morón, where protesters threw rocks and set a fire outside a local Communist Party headquarters. These demonstrations follow a confirmation from President Miguel Díaz-Canel that the country has not received a single shipment of oil in three months.
Fraga pointed directly at the U.S. embargo as the primary cause of the misery.
“The blockade deprives us of access to financing, access to technology, access to markets and in recent years, it has specifically been aimed at depriving our country of access to fuel,” Fraga said.
Data from the International Energy Agency supports the gravity of the fuel crisis, noting that Cuba relied on imports for 66% of its energy supply as recently as 2023.
The situation has drawn a sharp response from Washington. Speaking at the Shield of the Americas Summit on March 7, President Donald Trump stated the Cuban regime is in “its last moments of life,” noting that the country is currently without oil or money.
This follows the U.S. capture of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro in January, which severed one of Cuba’s longest-standing subsidized oil lifelines. Despite the tension, President Díaz-Canel confirmed that Cuban officials have maintained contact with American diplomats as the crisis worsens.
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