The Cuban government appears to be considering a slight shift in its rigid economic policies. Óscar Pérez-Oliva Fraga, the Vice Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Trade and Foreign Investment, has declared that foreign companies may soon be able to hire Cuban workers directly, bypassing the usual state-controlled employment agencies.
In most countries, such an announcement would be a mere legal update; in Cuba, however, it sounds almost revolutionary.
This statement was made during a recent TV interview on 'La Salita de Alma,' a light-hearted segment on Alma Plus TV that the regime uses to showcase its rising stars, similar to Lis Cuesta Peraza, the "not-first lady," who has also appeared on the program.
Pérez-Oliva, who is a grand-nephew of Fidel and Raúl Castro, touted alleged "new opportunities" being offered by the government to attract foreign investment. These include shorter bureaucratic timelines, more flexible currency use, and crucially, the option for investors to choose whether to hire staff directly or through a state entity.
During the opening of the Eighth Investment Forum in Havana in late November, the newly appointed vice prime minister promised a "more modern, agile, and transparent" investment environment. He first mentioned this potential change in how foreign companies could hire Cuban personnel.
While this might seem like a technical detail, in Cuba, it touches on a politically sensitive nerve. Since the mid-1990s, no foreign businessman has been able to freely hire Cuban workers.
That restriction was established by Law 77 in 1995, repealed in 2014 by the Foreign Investment Law 118, which ostensibly updated the legal framework to attract foreign capital. Yet, the new legislation retained the same workforce model: all foreign companies must hire their staff through state employment agencies designated by the Ministry of Foreign Trade (MINCEX) and authorized by the Ministry of Labor.
Only in "exceptional" cases, with explicit government authorization, could a joint venture hire directly.
In practice, these exceptions have never been applied, and the system functions as it has for decades: the investor pays the employer in foreign currency, and the employer compensates workers in Cuban pesos, pocketing the difference.
This model, designed to maintain political and financial control over the labor force, has been criticized by economists and international organizations as a modern form of labor servitude, with the state acting as both employer and intermediary, benefiting from labor exploitation.
Controlled Crack in the System
The notion of "direct hiring" could signify a paradigm shift, but in typical Cuban fashion, reality often lags behind rhetoric. Pérez-Oliva has not presented any official documentation, decrees, or legal modifications to support this change. The claims remain just words, and in Cuba, words weigh less than the stamps of the Official Gazette.
Even so, the mere fact that Castro's grand-nephew uttered such words on television marks a significant shift in discourse.
Amid a crisis, investor doubts, and human capital flight, the regime seems to be probing concessions that would have been unthinkable not long ago: allowing a foreign company to pay a Cuban worker directly in foreign currency—a notion politically taboo for decades.
"We are opening the range of options for the investor," the minister stated pragmatically. If applied literally, this phrase would imply removing the state from its intermediary role, thus losing one of its most reliable sources of foreign exchange.
However, business sources consulted by CiberCuba assert that, for now, there is no operational mechanism to implement this "flexibility," and hiring continues to be processed under the same regulations.
"Some will continue as before, with the employing entity, because they are satisfied with their service; others will choose to do it directly," Pérez-Oliva mentioned, leaving doubts about the legal basis and security that support the decision.
The supposed "investor's choice" appears, for now, to be a symbolic gesture to project an image of modernization to foreign partners.
Paper Reforms, Camera Propaganda
The context is no coincidence. Pérez-Oliva has become one of the most visible faces of Miguel Díaz-Canel's government.
His rise—from first deputy minister to minister and then vice prime minister—reflects Raúl Castro's strategy to reposition young cadres with historic surnames to continue the regime without losing control.
His media exposure has grown in recent months: interviews, protocol visits, and statements about "transparency" and "digitalization" of foreign trade. It's a visibility campaign that seeks to present him as the technocratic face of the "new economic stage," even as foreign investment figures plummet and the economy remains in recession.
During the interview, the minister repeated the usual lines: the U.S. "blockade," "internal difficulties," the "resilience of the people." But amidst these predictable phrases, he slipped in the announcement that could become his international calling card: a Cuba where the foreign entrepreneur can hire Cubans directly.
The key detail is that there is no evidence that this measure has started to be applied. No foreign company installed in the Mariel Special Zone has confirmed hiring without an employer. Nor has MINCEX published any resolution modifying the current labor regulations.
In other words, Pérez-Oliva seems to be selling dreams, or promising something that the Cuban regime is not yet ready to fulfill.
The Minister of Gestures
This is not the first time the young minister has made bold announcements without tangible results. In 2024, he was presented as a "manager" of debt restructuring with China and Russia, a process that never saw closure.
He has also promised to streamline the "one-stop shop" for investors, digitalize procedures, and attract foreign capital to sectors such as energy and tourism. To date, the numbers are stubborn: direct foreign investment in Cuba remains stagnant below 2% of GDP, one of the lowest rates in Latin America.
A Controlled Bet
The announcement about direct hiring seems part of an image strategy: portraying Castro's grand-nephew as a reformist without allowing him to change anything.
The measure grants him international visibility and reinforces the idea that "something is moving" in Cuba, without risking the core of state control over the economy and labor force.
If ever implemented—even experimentally—it could open an explosive precedent: workers being paid directly in foreign currency, without state mediation, and foreign companies negotiating salaries and contracts outside the political control structure.
But the minister himself hinted at caution: everything will depend on "the investor's choice" and "the business characteristics." Translation: the government will have the final say.
An Existing Regulation
Pérez-Oliva's opening speech contrasts with current Cuban legislation.
The Regulation for the hiring of Cubans by foreign companies, published in the Official Gazette No. 40 on September 29, 2015, explicitly states that "Cuban citizens and permanent residents can only provide services in foreign entities if they have previously established their employment relationship with a Cuban employing entity."
The regulation, issued by the Ministry of Labor and Social Security, prohibits any direct employment relationship between foreign companies and Cuban workers, requires payments to be made in Cuban pesos, and demands state authorization for each hiring.
Nothing indicates that this regulation has been repealed or modified. Therefore, for now, the minister's announcement lacks legal backing and seems more like a political gesture—a promise to the investing public—than a practically applicable measure.
A New Face for an Old System
At just 53 years old, Pérez-Oliva Fraga has become the young face of immobility. His lineage carries more weight than his management, and his discourse blends technocracy with recycled fidelism.
His promise of direct hiring is, so far, a declaration without decree, a gesture without substance. Yet it is revealing: it shows that the regime, cornered by the crisis, needs to appear flexible to remain the same.
In this strategy of "reform without change," Castro's grand-nephew plays the perfect role: the white-glove reformist announcing openings that never fully materialize, thus perfecting the art of perpetuating power, in which his great-uncle excelled.
FAQs on Direct Hiring of Cuban Workers by Foreign Companies
What did Óscar Pérez-Oliva Fraga announce regarding foreign companies in Cuba?
He announced that foreign companies might soon be able to hire Cuban workers directly, without going through state-controlled employment agencies.
Has the regulation allowing direct hiring been implemented?
As of now, there is no operational mechanism or legal modification to support this change, and hiring continues under the existing regulations.