If Fidel Castro had promised to deliver baseball prospects to the Texas Ranger, US President George W. Bush may have insisted on lifting the embargos on Cuba. But we had to wait for Chicago Cubs fan, US Secretary of Commerce, to make the best pitch.
The U.S. Secretary of Commerce Penny Pritzker wrapped up a two-day visit to Cuba.
Cuba banned all private enterprise and foreign investment following Fidel Castro’s 1959 revolution and the U.S. trade embargo still prohibits most U.S. economic activity with the Communist-run island.
But the warming of relations between the two countries, Pritzker said, indicated more U.S. economic activity in the off-limits island could soon be a reality.
“The government officials I have met with have been very forward leaning and wanting more American direct investment,” Pritzker said.
Pritzker met with the country’s ministers of foreign affairs and foreign investment and toured Mariel, the site of a $1 billion investment to create what Cuban officials hope will become a major shipping hub in the Caribbean.
She is the second U.S. cabinet official to visit the island since Fidel Castro’s 1959 revolution. In August, Secretary of State John Kerry traveled to the island to officially re-open the U.S. Embassy in Havana.
Pritzker cautioned that Cuban government red tape — like a requirement that all international companies contract their employees through the state-run agencies — limits foreign investment.
“We don’t understand how is it that you hire people, how does it work?” she said. “Imagine if you are a business owner. You want to hire who you want to hire.”
Despite the differences that remain, U.S. and Cuban officials have both said there are plenty of areas where the countries can collaborate.
