These Cuban Guys are Corporate America's bridge to business in Cuba
Recently, Cuba has reopened its doors for America. It's been more than 54 years since the American Embassy has opened. Now, it is ready to accept again America and tighten the warming ties between both countries.
It was an emotional day for Freyre, a Cuban-born American lawyer whose brother-in-law was killed during the Bay of Pigs invasion. It was in 1960 when he and his parents fled and until now the significance of the moment is still fresh in his mind.
Bay of Pigs was an attempt by the Central Intelligence Agency of the United States in 1961 to overthrow the communist government of Cuba, using mainly ex-Cuban refugees. The invasion was a terrible failure, making the USA look really bad and strengthening the communist cause in Cuba. Freyre who is already 66 said,"You miss the boat, you're not going to see this again in your lifetime,"
He was not there just to witness history in the making, though. He arrived with corporate clients that want to do business in Cuba and meet with government officials on both sides of the discussion.
Freyre's clients too, don't want to miss the boat to Cuba either. The truth is, many of them "want to be the first one there" now.
Freyre, and his law partners Augusto Maxwell and Matt Aho are fast becoming Corporate America's bridge to business in Cuba. They have a rare, front row seat as they guide American companies that want to go to Cuba for the first time in over half a century.
A year ago they had 12 clients interested in Cuba, and now it's more than doubled to over 25 corporate clients. Seven of those companies are Fortune 500 firms, they say.
These dynamic people are lawyers at the Miami-based firm Akerman. Both men teach a class on Cuba at Columbia University's Law School too.
Cuban leader Raul Castro and US President Barack Obama agreed to restore ties in December last year.
John Kerry is the first US Secretary of State to visit Cuba in 70 years and was the one who presided over the ceremony in Havana.
The US flag was presented by the same US marines who brought it down in 1961.
The lawyers don't see the U.S. embargo being completely lifted for another two or three years, but they note that the types of U.S. companies allowed to go to Cuba are already growing. For instance, Netflix (NFLX, Tech30), Jetblue (JBLU) and Airbnb are already operating there.
"We began to shake their hands...and the Cubans kept saying "Welcome! Welcome, Americans! Bienvenidos!" says Freyre.