Sanctions backed by the US government have stripped many foreign companies from Cuba’s economy, and a network of Trump and Rubio-aligned investors, lobbyists and Cuban exiles is positioning to buy the prize assets that remain. The shift hands economic power away from long-standing foreign operators and toward Washington and Florida-connected interests that are already advising clients on how to navigate the expanding penalties.
Officials and market participants have pointed to a string of recent exits. Spanish hotel groups Meliá and Iberostar have left after decades on the island, a Canadian miner, European shippers, and global card networks like Visa and Mastercard are among the firms that have scaled back or withdrawn operations, and Sherritt International was forced out of its nickel and cobalt joint venture after an executive order signed on 1 May. Two competing US offers to buy Sherritt’s Cuban stake have been filed with US authorities, creating a contest to control a strategic resource.
The scramble is not limited to natural resources. Sources say supporters of President Trump and allies of Secretary of State Marco Rubio are charging for advisory work, pressing clients to prepare to move in if Cuba’s political order collapses, and seeking direct ownership. Ray Washburne, a vice-chair of Trump’s 2016 Victory Committee and organiser of the recent Republican midterm convention in Dallas, is reported to be in competition with Texas oilman Albert Huddleston for opportunities around Sherritt’s ex-Cuban assets. An Australian company, Antilles Gold Ltd, was blacklisted in June then cleared to negotiate transferring a Cuban mine stake to the New York fund Global Emerging Markets.
Secretary Rubio has publicly signalled there will be no relief from pressure on the island, saying to Axios there are “no escape valves” from his campaign of sanctions. Human rights experts at the United Nations have warned that the measures risk depriving civilians of the means to survive, even as Washington authorises limited, commercially routed energy shipments. Treasury-approved oil deliveries from Florida and Texas to Cuba’s private sector have risen to more than $160m so far this year, while Florida shipping lines rerouting commerce through the state have gained business.
Other deals under discussion include meetings reportedly arranged by Dominari Holdings involving former Trump Organization executives and Raúl Guillermo Rodríguez Castro, the grandson of former leader Raúl Castro, after international hotel operators withdrew. Separately, an evangelical aid group led by Franklin Graham won a $40m federal contract to deliver humanitarian assistance in Cuba, a development that sources say highlights the close alignment between political patrons and new commercial and contracting opportunities on the island.
The immediate consequence is a reallocation of commercial influence in Cuba toward investors and intermediaries with direct US ties. The next developments to watch are which bids receive US approval, whether transfers of mineral and hospitality holdings proceed, and how rapidly Washington’s sanctions architecture continues to narrow foreign options on the island.
