Jorge Mas, anti-Castro leader in exile: What Trump did with Venezuela works there, but it won't work in Cuba'

"Jorge Mas Santos (Miami, 63) is a leading figure of the Cuban exile community in the United States. He is so by inheritance as the son of the historic Jorge Mas Canosa, who died in 1997 and championed the Helms-Burton Act that tightened the American embargo against the island and by his current standing: president of the Cuban American National Foundation, majority shareholder of the engineering and infrastructure company MasTec, which trades on the New York Stock Exchange, and owner of Inter Miami, the club that brought Lionel Messi to the city in 2023."

"He wants to remain a leading figure going forward as well, by laying out possible scenarios for a post-Castro Cuba a task he has intensified since the military operation in which the United States captured Venezuelan president Nicolas Maduro in January. That moment marked the beginning of unprecedented pressure from Washington on Havana through the method of oil strangulation, which has pushed the island to the brink of collapse and brought its leaders to the negotiating table including, in an extraordinary image, face to face with CIA director John Ratcliffe, who visited Havana last Thursday in a gesture that Mas reads as part of a very clear strategy by President Donald Trump and Secretary of State Marco Rubio."

"One is titled Roadmap for a Prosperous, Democratic and Free-Market Cuba", and proposes, among many other points, modernizing the island's banking system, eliminating income tax, promoting tax exemptions for companies with at least 10% domestic capital participation, and prioritizing the pharmaceutical, military, and heavy industry sectors. The other is a draft Fundamental Law for the democratic transition. Drafted in collaboration with the Cuban American Bar Association, it is an exercise in comparative law: 28 pages long, with the appearance of a constitution: a preamble, 115 articles,"

Jorge Mas Santos is a prominent Cuban exile figure in the United States, inheriting influence from his father Jorge Mas Canosa, who supported the Helms-Burton Act. Mas Santos holds leadership roles including president of the Cuban American National Foundation, majority shareholder of MasTec, and owner of Inter Miami, which brought Lionel Messi to Miami in 2023. He focuses on scenarios for a post-Castro Cuba and has intensified this work since a U.S. operation in January captured Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro. The resulting pressure on Havana includes oil-related measures that push Cuba toward collapse and bring leaders to negotiations. Mas Santos interprets a CIA visit to Havana by John Ratcliffe as part of a strategy involving President Donald Trump and Secretary of State Marco Rubio. He shared two documents outlining economic modernization and a democratic transition legal framework.

Read at english.elpais.com