A piece of land could mean many things for a person. It may be seen as a source of income, especially if managed well or it may simply be seen as property which emphasizes an individual's sense of ownership. However, for a Cuban-American, owning a piece property in their home land, such thing goes beyond money and pride.
For these Cuban-Americans, having a property in Cuba means connecting to their past and ancestry. As what Pedro Freyre, chair of Akerman LLP's International Practice and an expert on the U.S. embargo on Cuba shared via yahoo, "[These buyers] left behind homes and they're beginning to go back to Cuba, look at these places and for most of them this is not about recovering property but about the emotional connection and the family connection."
Doing such thing may seem to be easy as long as you possess enough amount of money for the acquisition of a property. However, things in Cuba had seen little change over the past years. Though there have been a so-called relaxed on "a decades-long ban on the sale of property in the country, which prevented home and landowners from selling and purchasing property," said yahoo, it is still difficult for foreigners to purchase a property. That is why most Cuban-Americans would go for Cuba's underground real estate market. The term may be complex but the process involved is considerably simple. It only takes for you to "go to your old house, see who's living there, and you ask if they want to sell. Then you find a Cuban relative who will buy the house for you," added yahoo.
However, there are of course some great risks with the said transaction. For aside from the government finding out such trade, you could also become a victim of deception. The deception could simply be done by your relative himself. As what the report revealed, "Your relatives could decide, 'oh, I want 60/40 ownership instead of 50/50,' or say 'I've changed my mind and [the property] belongs to me,' and the government may very well back them up. You're dealing with a no man's land when it comes to the Cuban court systems and it's very tricky."
If by sheer luck you are able to purchase a piece of land or property through legal processes. There is still no lifetime assurance about your purchase. For the government can easily repossess your property as what happened decades ago. Anabel Fernandez, a University of Havana-educated attorney shared via yahoo that, "even if you as a Cuban national buy a residence lawfully through the right mechanisms, the government could at any time repossess the property without any cause. There is no certainty in any type of transaction in Cuba."
Now when it comes to the idea of having a property in Cuba, it would surely involve a great risk. A risk which is most of the times would go beyond calculation. Now it is up to the individual whether he or she would take such risk, including violation of law, or continue living his life while still appreciating his ancestry within the core of his being.
