In brief
At a lavish beach house overlooking Biscayne Bay, a small circle of Cuban‑American billionaires, led by veteran entrepreneur Juan Omar Sixto, is mapping out a post‑Communist Cuba. The group, called the Cuban‑American National Chamber of Commerce, has drafted blueprints for a new stock exchange, energy projects and agrarian reform, insisting their plans will kick in immediately if the regime collapses. Their optimism clashes with Cuba’s harsh reality: severe electric blackouts, chronic shortages and a corruption‑laden bureaucracy that questions the benefits of a foreign‑led reconstruction. While the U.S. escalates sanctions, critics argue there is no martyrdom for a new political upheaval and that the exiles’ ambitions may be premature.
In a sun‑lit Miami estate overlooking Biscayne Bay, Miami’s oligarchic Cuban‑American community gathered for the fourth meeting of the Cuban‑American National Chamber of Commerce (CANCC). The group’s aim: to outline the “day after” Cuba – a new stock exchange, energy reform and agricultural development – to be launched immediately once the regime falls.
Juan Omar Sixto, a real‑estate developer in his early 80s and a Cuban exile, has called the event “the most important moment for Cuban entrepreneurs”. He and his colleagues are convinced the under‑said revolution will collapse at any moment and the ex‑shameless elites are ready to pour capital into the island’s broken economy.
Since 1959, Cuban exiles in Florida have blasted the Communist government for taking their families’ businesses and land. Sixto’s plan is anti‑theft he says: “We want to restart what was taken.” The explosion of “economic liberalisation” announced by President Miguel Díaz‑Canel – 176 new legal reforms – is widely seen in Miami as a pre‑show for this post‑Communist transition.
CANCC has drafted proposals for a Cuban stock exchange, energy and food‑security committees, and is lobbying Washington for a “full‑scale” US policy shift. Historians and analysts are cautious: without a larger political crisis, speculation as big as “a U.S. military operation” or a completely different fate of future U.S. policy is dubious.
While elite Cuban‑Americans are lining up donors and exploiting diplomatic clout, the Cuban people remain in darkness. The island is undergoing its sixth nationwide blackout of 2026, failing food supply chains and a broken electric grid that could require $8‑10bn to repair – money that exiles say could be redirected into productive infrastructure.
Whether the Cuban diaspora can be forced into constructive action or whether the reality of day‑to‑day life in Havana will outlast their ambitions remains a question. The gulf between Miami’s “cast‑off” vision and Cuba’s crumbling reality illustrates the harsh challenges any post‑Communist reconstruction will face in a context where the U.S. embargo, political opposition and economic disarray are all still in play.
