cross-posted from: https://lemmy.ml/post/34128492

Andreas Knobloch
Los Palacios
07/30/2025

Cuba has let farmland to a foreign company for the first time since its 1959 revolution, when all foreign landowners were expropriated. But can the #Vietnamese investor help rescue the island's struggling agriculture?

Under efforts to spur the domestic #rice output, the Cuban government has asked #Vietnam for help because the two countries have maintained friendly relations for decades, intensifying especially agricultuiral cooperation in recent years.

For Perez, the Los Palacios project marks a entirely new level of partnership though.

Privately owned Agri VMA is managing the lease largely independent from state interference, with operations being based on a business contract. The company has brought to Cuba its own resources, technical experts, and seeds from hybrid rice varieties developed in Vietnam.