Business & Economy

The executive order signed by President Donald Trump this Friday in Miami to change US policy towards Cuba contains, in essence, new restrictions on travel and commercial activities, but does not affect family visits or remittances from the Cuban-American community.

Republican senator Marco Rubio and Democrat senator Bill Nelson have asked the Trump administration to give priority to compensation to US citizens who lost assets when Fidel Castro nationalized these at the onset of the Revolution.

Housing construction in Cuba has fallen for the tenth consecutive year in a row, adding to the further decline in a country with great housing shortages. This despite the opening of the housing market for buying and selling and some government subsidies.

The so-called tsar of economic reforms in Cuba, Marino Murillo, reappeared on Thursday on the political stage during an special session of the National Assembly, along with president Raul Castro. He had been absent from the public for over a year.

The Cuban government has called for a special session of the National Assembly of the People’s Power to be held on Thursday June 1st, to officially approve documents which will govern the national political and economic strategy in the coming years.

There are two very distinct approaches trying to influence the Trump administration’s awaited Cuba policy. An initial look at the US president’s plans for the relationship with the neighboring country is expected in the not too far off future.

President Donald Trump’s first budget request, which was submitted on Tuesday, eliminates funds directed to issues linked to civil society and human rights in Cuba [something which the Cuban government has been demanding for years].

The Gran Hotel Manzana, the first five-star plus hotel in Cuba, opened its doors Monday in Havana operated by the Swiss company Kempinski, which considers the facility its “point” of entry to the Americas. The hotel is owned by the Cuban Armed Forces.