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Jordi Cabarrocas, president of 1898 Compañía de Recuperaciones Patrimoniales S.L., categorically ruled out the possibility that a potential democratic transition in Cuba would lead to mass evictions from homes.
His statements to CiberCuba come in the context of heightened expectations generated by the remarks of President Donald Trump, who claimed that Cuba "will fall quite soon" and that the regime is "desperate" for an agreement with the United States.
The Cabarrocas company, which has been managing property claims for families affected by the expropriations carried out by the regime of Fidel Castro since 1959, has opted for solutions based on compensations and land exchanges as a way to address the demands for confiscated properties.
"Logically, no one should be thrown out onto the street here, as it is neither appropriate nor warranted. This is a situation that will be resolved in a straightforward manner, but always with legal security, because in the end, money requires legal security," the expert assured.
Cabarrocas noted that the Cuban regime did not build large new urban areas but rather "has chosen to fragment and degrade already established zones," leaving plenty of available land for compensation without needing to displace the current occupants of the properties. The solution, he explained, will involve collaboration with a future transitional government through creative formulas: equivalent land, exchanges, or other compensations, never the direct physical restitution of occupied properties.
To support his position, the expert cited the models implemented in a dozen countries from the Soviet bloc after the fall of socialism in the USSR and Eastern Europe. "Cuba is not an exception to something atypical, but rather something relatively typical, and in other countries it has been resolved without any problems ever arising," he emphasized.
The Spanish company, with offices in Barcelona, Madrid, and Miami, currently represents more than 500 families, mostly second and third generation —children and grandchildren of those expropriated, aged around 40-50 years—, with families averaging between 10 and 20 members. Approximately 70% of the claims are concentrated in Havana.
After Trump's statements and the capture of Nicolás Maduro in Venezuela last January, which deprived Cuba of its main source of subsidized oil, contacts with the company have multiplied. "There is a lot of activity. People with investment capacity have approached us, people eager for Cuba to thrive," said Cabarrocas, who also mentioned the return of families that had "thrown in the towel."
The expert expressed confidence that this time the transition could be real. "Now I believe there is leadership. There are a lot of people who have raised their voices, and then the outside community believes it too. And President Trump is involved. Well, of course, there’s President Trump; without him, it wouldn’t be possible," he stated.
To start a claim, families do not need much documentation. "Practically nothing. They do need to come to an agreement among themselves. That is the most important thing," stated Cabarrocas, whose company acts as a manager that standardizes positions within families scattered across the diaspora.
The specialist was categorical about the importance of resolving these claims as a prerequisite for the island's economic development: "Without this resolved, it will be very difficult for the transition in Cuba to make sense", he concluded.
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