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A group of Cuban-American entrepreneurs based in Miami founded the Cuban American National Chamber of Commerce (CANCC), a nonprofit organization aimed at facilitating investments in Cuba "when it is free and democratic."
The news was shared this Friday by the agency EFE and replicated by international media, although CiberCuba had already reported on the establishment of the chamber two weeks ago, in an exclusive interview with the lawyer and secretary of the organization, Nicolas J. Gutiérrez Jr.
An organization born from exile with a forward-thinking vision
The CANCC is headquartered in Miami, Florida, and operates as a national entity with affiliated local chapters and the ability to lobby local, state, and federal governments in the U.S.
His president is Juan Omar Sixto, a Cuban-American businessman and publicist, accompanied by Rafael V. Sixto as vice president and Gutiérrez Jr. as secretary.
Among the trustees are influential businessmen such as Christian Eiroa (C.L.E. Cigars), Joseph Hernandez (Blue Water Venture Partners), Lombardo Perez (Metro Ford), and Federico Ramirez (Corporación HMS).
The official website of the organization was launched this Friday and features its mission statement: it was founded “with patriotic fervor” by Cuban Americans who “envision a future free and democratic Cuba with legal guarantees for commerce.”
"Only when there is the rule of law"
The CANCC operates in full compliance with Title II of the Helms-Burton Act of 1996, and requires its members to only engage with future private Cuban entrepreneurs "without ties to members of the current political regime."
In an interview with CiberCuba, Gutiérrez Jr. was emphatic in explaining the founders' position:
"They are eager to invest in Cuba, but only when there is a rule of law, only when there is a regime different from the one that stripped us, the one that imprisoned us, the one that killed our friends and partners."
The lawyer also highlighted the economic potential of exile: "The economy of Miami is far more powerful than the entire economy of Cuba."
The rejection of the regime's opening
On March 16, 2026, the Cuban Minister of Foreign Trade, Óscar Pérez-Oliva Fraga, stated that Cuba would be open to investments from Cubans residing abroad, including Cuban Americans.
The founders of the CANCC reject that openness, citing the lack of real legal guarantees.
Gutiérrez cited a decree from the Cuban Ministry of the Interior (MININT) that allows for the confiscation of funds from any small or medium-sized private business.
"The problem is that it's the same regime; people forget. Sixty-seven years have passed, but it's the same small group that misgoverns the island, holding onto power by force and without elections," he warned.
Background and future plans
The immediate background was a meeting held on March 31 in Miami, where Cuban-American businessmen signed a proclamation committing to contribute their "financial resources, experience, capital, and patriotic motivation" to a "new and prosperous democratic Cuba."
A second meeting solidified the formal creation of the corporation, which was processing its designation with the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) of the U.S.
The plans include a three-year agenda, proposals submitted to the Department of the Treasury and the Department of State, and the exploration of a stock exchange linked to Cuba.
This initiative is not the first of its kind: in August 2021, following the protests of July 11th, another group of exiled entrepreneurs had already signed an agreement to create a reconstruction fund for Cuba, contingent upon a political transition.
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