The Cuban government announces that emigrants will be able to request land for usufruct

The Cuban government announced that emigrants who maintain effective Cuban citizenship will be able to request state lands for usufruct, a development that represents one of the key changes within the agrarian reform introduced this weekend.

The information was announced by the Deputy Prime Minister Jorge Luis Tapia Fonseca during a meeting with agricultural producers, in which he explained that those who have emigrated will also be able to access the land distribution program.

Since the usufruct system began in 2008 with the , successive reforms have expanded the conditions for the exploitation of state lands, but until now, there had been no explicit announcement regarding the possibility for emigrants to become usufructuaries.

The government did not specify how the measure will be implemented or what the requirements will be to certify the so-called "effective citizenship", so it will be necessary to wait for the publication of the relevant regulations in the Official Gazette.

The announcement is part of a series of changes aimed at involving more participants in agricultural production within a context characterized by food shortages and low productivity in the sector.

The opening coincides with a moment when authorities acknowledge the need to attract new producers to cultivate thousands of hectares of idle land.

In recent years, the government has promoted several reforms to the usufruct regime —such as the expansion of the land available for usufruct, the relaxation of some requirements, and the regularization of constructions on farms— but the results have not succeeded in reversing the food production crisis affecting the country.

If this measure is confirmed through its official publication, the universe of potential beneficiaries would significantly expand to include Cubans residing abroad who maintain effective citizenship.

However, there are still questions about practical aspects such as residency in Cuba, land management, timelines for starting exploitation, control mechanisms, and conditions for maintaining usufruct.

Tapia Fonseca's statements come at a time when the government is working on a new Land Law, intended to replace the current legal framework of usufruct.

The project aims to reorganize agricultural legislation and could permanently incorporate changes like this one, although for the moment, the authorities have not published the legal text that would clarify the exact scope of the announced opening.