Spain's flagship hotel brand, Meliá Hotels, has announced it is exiting 15 properties in Cuba. Read their press release carefully: "risk assessment," "legal conditions," "external circumstances." No details, but an interesting development that now includes other foreign brands, such as Sherritt (Canada).
Not one word about freedom or the Cuban people. Of course, they cannot say a word about freedom since foreign companies have helped keep Cuba politically afloat for decades. Remember, tourism and travel to Cuba is what oil is to the Islamic Regime of Iran, an economic lifeline.
Spain, Canada, France, Italy, Germany, China, Russia, Venezuela, the Netherlands, Brazil, and Jamaica all have or have had meaningful commercial presence. There are many others, even right here in LATAM. The EU even passed a blocking statute to shield its nationals from U.S. sanctions compliance. That was a choice, made repeatedly, for thirty-plus years.
Now that the United States has begun — and I mean just begun, there is much more the Trump administration can and should do — enforcing the LIBERTAD Act and related authorities more seriously, companies are suddenly reassessing. Better late than never, but let's be precise about what is driving the foreign company change of heart: it is not conscience; it is liability.
Americans are still wrongfully detained in Cuba. American claimants are owed billions for property confiscations that were never remediated. Decades of foreign commercial activity in Cuba helped sustain the system that made it all possible. The accountability phase is just getting started. There is a lot to fix. We will see who else recalculates.
🚨UPDATE: In a historic celebratory development, millions of Venezuelans are jubilantly celebrating as socialism's grip ends after decades of oppression. The Maduro regime has collapsed in a U.S.-led operation, freeing millions from hyperinflation, starvation and narco-terrorism.