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The news that emigrants with effective citizenship will be able to request land for usufruct triggered an avalanche of comments on social media this Monday, overwhelmingly skeptical and mocking, with a refrain that repeats without variation: the Cuban State will take the land as soon as it is clean and productive.
The announcement, made on Sunday by Vice Prime Minister Jorge Luis Tapia Fonseca during a meeting with agricultural producers, was received by the Cuban community abroad more as a sign of economic desperation than as a genuine opening.
“I’m running to catch the plane, with my little money to invest! Wait for me, Díaz-Canel!”, wrote a user with evident sarcasm, in one of the most shared comments on the Facebook post from CiberCuba.
Distrust has concrete roots. Several Cubans recalled personal experiences or those of family members who had their usufruct withdrawn when the plots began to yield results. "I was given it and taken away when I had everything set up," recounted a user. Another added: "Usufruct is useless, it's never yours; you take the lands, make them pristine, and then someone gets a notion and you're out of luck."
The legal term itself has attracted much criticism. Under the usufruct system in place in Cuba since 2008, the State retains ownership of the land and can revoke the right to use it if the contract is breached or if it simply decides to reclaim it.
Usufruct is the name of the poison, summarized a commentator. Another was more direct: "Don't get your hopes up. In usufruct, that is, when they are productive, they take them away from you so that you don't fall into the temptation of being wealthy."
Many pointed out the historical contradiction embedded in the proposal. For decades, the regime labeled those who emigrated as "worms" and "traitors"; now it is calling them to invest their money in lands that are still owned by the State.
"A those who yesterday repudiated and labeled traitors, now that they are suffocating, are three dollars," wrote a user. Others highlighted the phrase that the regime itself popularized: "And where did that 'we don't want them, we don't need them' go?"
Questions also arose regarding unanswered details about the measure. The concept of "effective citizenship", introduced in the new immigration laws published in May 2026, still lacks specific regulations on how it will be accredited for usufruct access.
"Effective citizenship or citizenship with enforcers?" joked a commentator in one of the most celebrated phrases of the thread.
Several users also pointed out the material conditions that make any agricultural investment on the island unfeasible: a shortage of fertilizers, lack of fuel for machinery, absence of legal guarantees, and the common practice of the state collection system taking the majority of the production.
“Nobody wants to work the land: first because they steal everything from you, second because there are no fertilizers, and third because they themselves taught the population not to work in agriculture,” argued a user in an extensive comment that generated dozens of agreeing responses.
A more analytical voice cautioned that even if the opening yields some visible economic results, the system will revert as soon as the political context changes: "Get ready for as soon as Trump leaves the White House, because they will roll everything back in one or two months. That has always been the nature of that system."
The measure is announced amid the worst food crisis that Cuba has experienced in decades: 96.91% of the population lacks adequate access to food, the production of root vegetables has fallen by 44%, and the country imports between 70% and 80% of what it consumes.
The new Agricultural and Forestry Land Law, which will formalize these changes, is set to be approved on July 29, 2026, during the ordinary session of the National Assembly, although the implementation mechanisms for emigrants have not yet been published in the Official Gazette.
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