Cuba's Fledgling Entrepreneurs Visit Miami For Capitalist Consultation

Cuba's Fledgling Entrepreneurs Visit Miami For Capitalist Consultation
By TIM PADGETT

A fledgling private sector is taking root in communist Cuba. Last week a
group of Cuban entrepreneurs made an unprecedented visit to Miami to
learn how to run a business -- and to convince Americans they're worth
backing.

To salvage his ragged economy, Cuban leader Raúl Castro has decreed
limited free-market reforms. Half a million Cubans have started up small
enterprises ranging from pizzerias to furniture makers. Five of those
new capitalists met with South Florida business owners and start-up
consultants. Among them was Sandra Aldama who owns a Havana company
called D'Brujas, which makes some of the first hypo-allergenic soaps to
be sold in Cuba.

"Finding the most basic capital goods and suppliers [in Cuba] is
incredibly difficult," says Aldama. "But we're achieving something
that's a dream for many people in Cuba."

The entrepreneurs came at the invitation of The Cuba Study Group, a
Washington-based organization that encourages increased engagement with
Cuba. Those who oppose that increased contact say investment in even
private Cuban businesses will only aid the Castro dictatorship.

Source: Cuba's Fledgling Entrepreneurs Visit Miami For Capitalist
Consultation | WLRN -
http://wlrn.org/post/cubas-fledgling-entrepreneurs-visit-miami-capitalist-consultation