The Cuban-American businessman Carlos Saladrigas, president of the Cuba Study Group, was unequivocal in assessing the investment prospects in Cuba: without fundamental political transformations, no economic reform will have credibility, he warned in a lengthy interview given to the newspaper El País.
"Without political changes, there is no seriousness or credibility in the measures. Last year, all foreign currency bank accounts belonging to Vietnamese and their privileged partners were seized. What credibility can this government have? None," Saladrigas stated from Miami.
The businessman responded in this way when asked whether the package of 176 economic and social reforms presented by the regime in June represented a genuine opening to capitalism.
Although he acknowledged that many of the measures are necessary and should have been adopted 20 or 30 years ago, his verdict was straightforward: "The measures are destined to fail" because the government intends to maintain control over everything and has not changed the fundamental political structures.
Saladrigas identified a stable macroeconomic climate, a reliable banking system, a solid currency, laws that respect private property, and a truly independent judiciary as essential guarantees for any serious investment.
He also called for constitutional changes to end the monopoly of a single party and the lifting of U.S. economic sanctions.
About the current guarantees for an investor, he was equally blunt: "Practically nothing."
The businessman proposes a "Marshall Plan" for Cuba based on an agreement through which Washington would lift all sanctions by executive order for two or three years while Havana implements structural reforms.
In parallel, Cuba would receive long-term loans— which could later be repaid or even forgiven— to restore the electrical grid, support schools and hospitals, maintain public order, and lay the foundations for a market economy.
In a previous interview, Saladrigas estimated the cost of the first phase of stabilization to be between 6,000 and 10,000 million dollars, lasting between two and four years.
According to their proposal, the funding would primarily come from the Cuban diaspora and the United States government, with smaller contributions from Europe and Latin America.
Regarding the Trump Administration, Saladrigas adopted an ambivalent position. He praised the pressure put on the regime, but expressed deep concern over the statements in which the U.S. president claimed he would have "the honor of taking Cuba" and that he could "do anything" with the island.
Referring to that rhetoric, Saladrigas mentioned expressions such as "I am going to be the president of Cuba" or "Cuba is mine whenever I want."
"Those things reach deep into my heart. It hurts to hear them. I don't want Washington to be the one to solve Cuban problems. We have to solve them ourselves, fully exercising our autonomy," he stated.
The businessman also questioned the lack of clarity from the Trump Administration regarding its expectations and accused the Cuban regime of "playing a little game of trying to do the least possible or the least important," while it awaits the November U.S. elections and the war with Iran to divert attention.
Regarding the role of exile, Saladrigas considers it a fundamental driving force for Cuba's economic recovery, although he warned that the generation with the greatest financial capacity and emotional connection to Cuba already has a limited investment horizon.
"I no longer see my investments there in the long term, because at some point I won't be there," he acknowledged.
Saladrigas also warned in June 2026 that investors will not come to Cuba unless there are political transformations, a position he has reiterated now.
His diagnosis of the Cuban model was devastating: "Cuba has been very efficient and very good at distributing poverty, but it has been disastrous in creating wealth, and if there is no wealth, poverty cannot be resolved."
Saladrigas arrived in Florida in August 1961, at the age of 12, as part of Operation Pedro Pan, which brought approximately 14,000 unaccompanied Cuban minors to the United States.
Decades later, he co-founded in 1984 The Vincam Group, a pioneering company in human resources management that became the largest Hispanic company of its kind in the United States and was acquired by ADP in 2000.
He also co-founded the Cuba Study Group, an organization dedicated to promoting the development of the private sector on the island.
Filed under: