Cuban entrepreneurs get business training from US, hope Biden lifts sanctions
ANDREA RODRÍGUEZ Associated Press
The Biden administration says it will expand flights to Cuba, take steps to loosen restrictions on U.S. travelers to the island, and lift Trump-era restrictions on remittances that immigrants can send to people on the island.The State Department said in a statement Monday that it will remove…
HAVANA, Cuba — Musicians Ana María Torres and María Carla Puga started making bracelets and necklaces at home in Cuba during the pandemic, and they now have a flourishing business. On an island that for decades prohibited private enterprise, they have had an unlikely adviser: the U.S. Embassy.
Maria Carla Puga, right, and Ana Maria Torres at their jewelry store and workshop named Ama, which also has a cafeteria, in Havana, Cuba, Tuesday, on June 27. Torres and Puga are part of a small group of entrepreneurs benefiting from a business training program the U.S. Embassy is offering in Cuba.
Adriana Heredia works June 6 at Beyond Roots, her private enterprise that includes a clothing store, a beauty salon specializing in afro hair and various other cultural projects, in Havana, Cuba. “I am super happy with the new willingness of the United States Embassy to pave the way for us in terms of knowledge. ... That is something we were lacking,” she said.
Adriana Heredia works June 6 at Beyond Roots, her private enterprise that includes a clothing store, a beauty salon specializing in afro hair and various other cultural projects, in Havana, Cuba. “I am super happy with the new willingness of the United States Embassy to pave the way for us in terms of knowledge. ... That is something we were lacking,” she said.
Maria Carla Puga, right, and Ana Maria Torres at their jewelry store and workshop named Ama, which also has a cafeteria, in Havana, Cuba, Tuesday, on June 27. Torres and Puga are part of a small group of entrepreneurs benefiting from a business training program the U.S. Embassy is offering in Cuba.
