After Barack Obama and Raul Castro approved the reestablishment of relations between their governments in 2016, it was to be expected that things would change between the two countries. But that historic turn in US foreign policy toward the island came to a screeching halt with the election of Donald Trump. Current President Biden has continued to apply an anti-Cuban policy that has lasted for six decades.
Despite this, a British-Canadian writer T.K. Hernandez took to heart the possibilities opened up for foreign investment and economic development on the island following the reestablishment of diplomatic ties between Cuba and the United States. Hernandez has spent 6 years, between 2016 and 2022, traveling between London, Washington, Toronto, Ottawa and Havana, interviewing more than thirty experts in the island’s strategic economic sectors.
Last February 16, her book “The Cuba Interviews: Conversations on Foreign Investment and Economic Development” (Palgrave Macmillan, 2023), was presented at the 32nd Havana International Book Fair. The testimonies she collected have as their main backdrop the contemporary history of the Cuban Revolution’s quest for sovereignty.
Read the full interview with Hernandez below, conducted by fellow author Alex Anfruns Millán:
Alex Anfruns: Can you tell us a little bit about how your book came to be?
T.K. Hernandez: I started interviewing for Cuba Business Report in 2016. That first interview was with the Managing Director of a British firm in London. We did the interview over the phone. The company had an amazing project developing a luxury golf resort with freehold villas and condos in Carbonera.
They were going to be the first company to build freehold luxury villas and apartments whereby foreigners could own properties outright. It was an amazing project. Both the Cubans and the British company were extremely excited about it.
People were drawn to the concept of the Cuba Business Report—impartial reporting on Cuba’s business and economic progress. I started interviewing government officials and foreign investors from many countries. The Cuba Business Report was also chosen to be the media partner and official event publication for many conferences in Havana, including the CUPET Oil and Gas Conference for three consecutive years. I had a good reputation among the business community in Cuba and with the foreign investors who were investing. One interview led to another and another.
AA: What was the background behind the writing process?
TKH: After the election of Trump, who made it his mission to punish the Cubans and their economy, I thought these interviews had value, so I compiled them into a book format as a sort of legacy if the website did not remain. The goal was to present an “open window on Cuba.” It is a record of modern history.
I also interviewed many prominent people in the arts and culture sector, but these are not included in the book because “The Cuba Interviews: Conversations on Foreign Investment and Economic Development” dealt only with business and economic development. I intend to publish those other interviews in the future.
AA: By continuing to include Cuba on the list of “state sponsors of terrorism” under both the Trump and Biden administrations, Washington lays bare its pretension to twist the arm of the Cuban Revolution government. How do you assess that US strategy and its possible evolution?
TKH: Placing Cuba on the list of “state sponsors of terrorism” is an additional effort to destroy Cuba’s economy. The designation by the Trump government is primarily to thwart foreign investment and trade. It is a failed policy based on the manufacturing of lies with the complicity of the corporate media. Biden has not removed Cuba from the list and has done nothing to fulfill his campaign promises on Cuba.
As you know, there is dramatic change in the world. People are focused on the war in Ukraine and the genocide in Palestine. At the same time, we have China’s Belt and Road Initiative, the BRICS and a Pan-African revolution against neocolonialist structures in the Sahel. We also have god-knows-what’s happening politically and psychologically in the United States. The world has just witnessed the insanity in the recent presidential debate [between Biden and Trump on June 27].
I think we will be able to evaluate the evolution of the US strategy more clearly after the BRICS summit in Kazan and the US elections in November. Experts predict that the use of the dollar in international trade will decline as more trade is conducted in national currencies and a possible digital currency among BRICS nations. The effectiveness of sanctions will lose strength. We have already seen how sanctions against Russia have failed and its economy is actually doing well.
AA: Cuba has expressed great interest in joining BRICS. How do you perceive this?
TKH: Today, Cuba embraces the BRICS, an intergovernmental organization for emerging nations. The President, Miguel Diaz Canel, spoke at the BRICS summit in South Africa in 2023. Last month, Cuba’s Foreign Minister, Bruno Rodriguez, attended the BRICS Foreign Ministers’ Meeting in Moscow. Although Cuba has not yet joined the BRICS, Minister Rodriguez indicated the possibility of becoming a Partner State.
These will present new opportunities for Cuba. As I mentioned before, the outcome of the next BRICS Summit is crucial. I am optimistic there will be a change. The world is in a state of transition. It will be the end of the unipolar world governed and bullied by US hegemony. It will be replaced with a multipolar world in which countries of the Global South can develop their economies and finally, their voices will be heard.
AA: For decades, the Cuban Revolution has withstood multifaceted aggression by the US. Which players has the Cuban government been able to count on? What vision and methods has it adopted to limit the impact of this economic war?
TKH: The Cuban government holds strong bilateral relations with China, Russia, Venezuela, Vietnam and others. These relationships are strong and long term. During the pandemic, Russia, China, Vietnam, and others donated food, fuel and medical supplies. These nations have made investments on the island in infrastructure, transportation, retail, automotive and other sectors.
Cuba’s vision, I believe, is to continue to pursue sovereignty, preserve its cultural identity, to build on bilateral relations, develop its economy for a sustainable future, and continue providing free healthcare and education to its population. It is a system that benefits all citizens, unlike a capitalist system which benefits only the few
The island still maintains immense support throughout the world—seen each year at the United Nations resolution to end the US embargo against Cuba. The only nations voting against the resolution are the United States and Israel, which receives US funding.
There are also solidarity groups across the globe which support the end of the unjust blockade. Cuba continues to be open to respectful dialogue with the US.
AA: The United States assumes an extraterritorial policy of blockade and coercive measures, arrogating to itself the right to apply tailor-made punishments to countries that choose a different development model. What is your analysis of the repercussions of the blockade not only for the Cuban people, but also for external economic players?
TKH: People have grown weary of the present situation in which the US uses sanctions as a foreign policy tool. Other nations, particularly of the Global South, are also tired of it. They long for a more just and equitable world to develop their economies. It is not surprising there is a trend towards new alliances such as the BRICS.
Sixty years of sanctions against Cuba have made life extremely difficult for ordinary Cubans. It has caused an economic crisis in the country. Since Mallory’s memorandum of 1960, its primary goal has been to deny “money and supplies to Cuba, to decrease monetary and real wages, to bring about hunger, desperation and overthrow of government.” US foreign policy still pursues the goal of “regime change,” without respecting human rights or the sovereignty of a nation. Cuba is an independent nation and does not belong to the US.
AA: Not enough was said about the Cuban management of the COVID-19 pandemic. How was it dealt with in this context and what was the US position?
TKH: During the pandemic, the US blocked ventilators, fuel, medical supplies and equipment and access to vaccines to Cuba. Beginning in 2019, there were a series of new regulations by the US government blocking remittances sent by people to their families in Cuba, including those living in countries other than the United States. By late 2020, Trump’s measures forced the closure of over 400 Western Union offices on the island. This shows the extraterritorial reach of US regulations.
The ability of Cuba to import medicines is limited. This has led to shortages because of the blocks on trade and financing.
Consequently, such actions led to innovation in Cuba’s biotech sector. The country started manufacturing its own ventilators. Likewise, the biotech industry developed innovative medicines, including its own COVID and cancer vaccines, and HeberProt-P, a drug for diabetic foot ulcers.
AA: And even then, the United States did not abandon its aggressive policy towards the island?
TKH: Access to banking has blocked trade and markets. As a result, the US has fined international banks billions of dollars for being suspected of conducting business with Cuba.
Many American and international companies have faced the long, drawn-out process of Helms-Burton litigation. The companies being sued originally established their businesses in good faith under OFAC licenses during the Obama presidency. However, in 2019, Trump re-enacted Helms-Burton Title III, suspended since 1996, allowing people to pursue claims for property nationalized in Cuba after the Revolution.
AA: In terms of access to healthcare, how would you rate the performance of the Cuban socialist system, located just a few kilometers from the capitalist system of the United States, particularly in its management during the pandemic period?
TKH: There are two essential differences between the healthcare systems of each country. One is driven by profits and corporations in a system such as the United States. In Cuba’s socialist system, we find free universal health care, motivated by the philosophy that regards healthcare as a human right. One of the primary goals of the Cuban healthcare system is promotion of health and disease prevention.
During the pandemic, the US and Cuba experienced different outcomes. The US was number one in terms of its 111,820,082 COVID cases and 1,219,487 deaths. In Cuba, there were 1,115,251 cases and only 8,530 deaths. There are several articles, including one in the Lancet that report on Cuba’s successful management of the pandemic.
The US created vaccines with huge government investments in pharmaceutical companies. Cuba created five vaccines without such financing, achieving one of the highest rates of vaccination globally.
During the pandemic and alongside increased US sanctions, Cuba sent 53 medical teams, the Henry Reeve Medical Brigades, to over 40 countries. The medical workers, experts in disaster relief and pandemics, assisted other countries in their battles against COVID.
AA: What are the major transformations you would highlight in the Cuban economy in the last decade?
TKH: The Cuban government realizes the need to develop its economy and has a “National Economic and Social Development Plan to 2030” in place to pursue this goal. It has made important economic reforms over the last decade. However, economic development remains challenging because of over 60 years of US sanctions.
In the process of attracting foreign investment, Cuba amended their investment law in 2014, expanded the projects in the investment portfolio and developed an online platform called Ventanilla Unica de Comercio Exterior (VUCE) in 2020 to streamline the investment process.
In 2018, Cuba joined the Belt and Road Initiative, an economic development strategy linking nations by road, rail, ports, energy, and digital infrastructure. Several years later, in 2021, Cuba signed the Belt and Road Energy Initiative.
In 2021, currency unification took place, eliminating the CUC, and making the CUP its national currency. Cuba has also developed a special economic development zone at the Port of Mariel. When I first visited the ZED Mariel in 2016, it was just a few buildings and barren fields. On my second visit in 2022, the advancement was incredible. It has developed into a bustling industrial city with paved roads, many company warehouses and factories, delivery trucks, and employee residences.
Another transition taking place is the expansion of the professions and a rapid growth of the entrepreneurial sector. The expectation is that the sector will contribute significantly to GDP.
AA: How has the reception of your book been in the United States?
TKH: The reception is as expected when one writes a book that challenges the policies of the United States, a policy that aims to destroy Cuba’s economy and hopes for regime change. “The Cuba Interviews” presents an open window to Cuba and foreign investment. These were the voices of not only Cuban government ministers and ambassadors but also of other nations, and businesspeople investing in Cuba.
Two journalists from well-known US publications accepted free copies of the book from my editor at Palgrave to do reviews. This is normal. One was a major publication in Miami, the other was the media publication that first reported the disinformation article on spy bases in Cuba. Then, they ghosted us. Nothing was heard back from them, and they failed to write a review. In a normal world, they would have written a review, but this is not a normal world.
At the present time, we live in a world controlled by US hegemony which, by a process of silencing or omission, suppresses the voices of others and other possibilities. We have seen this in the case of people like Julian Assange, who is perhaps the best example in recent history. The good news is that “The Cuba Interviews” is available in major bookstores, libraries and universities across the United States and elsewhere.
Alex Anfruns Millán is the author of the book “Niger: another coup d’état… or the pan-African revolution?” (2023) and coauthor of the catalan documentary “Palestine the besieged truth” (2008). He was the editor-in-chief of Investig’action based in Brussels. With Olivier Ndenkop from Cameroon he also published the monthly Journal de l’Afrique. Anfruns has translated and written about the wars and coup attempts in Mali, Syria, Venezuela and Nicaragua, specializing in Africa and Latin America. He is currently a professor in Casablanca and researches the right to development from a pan-African historical perspective.
