Cuba's Council of State has approved a decree establishing a new immigration status that allows members of the Cuban diaspora — including Cuban-Americans — to own and operate businesses on the island for the first time. Previously, while private enterprise had been permitted for residents since 2021, Cubans living abroad were explicitly excluded, partly because much of the diaspora, concentrated in the United States, has historically supported American sanctions against Havana. The move, which opens sectors such as agriculture and banking to diaspora investors and their children, reflects the communist government's effort to revive an economy battered by a decades-long U.S. embargo and a more recent American-led blockade on Venezuelan oil shipments to the island.