(I'm a Cuban entrepreneur) Everything-Cuba has been always media-hype. I believe, in part, due to the poor understanding and information out there about the country. All in all, if you compare, the Cuban government has been actually opening up and allowing much more economic freedom now than it did for many years, and I believe they will continue doing so, as it's in their best interest as well as that of the cuban people. If by "greater" you mean neo-liberalism or alike, I don't think we would do that, but who knows, shit happens.
Stripe's move is clever but not because of the "media play" only ... they are doing the best thing an US business can do regarding an opening Cuba right now, they will see tons of cuban businesses applying right away, and I bet a very high cash-flow, what's not to like?
Also, I can vouch for Merchise Startups (the guys Stripe are partnering with), and they know their ground, that's something you can say about (sadly) too few people in Cuba, regarding business, entrepreneurship and startups anyway. So the move gets clever by the minute...
Stripe's move is clever but not because of the "media play" only ... they are doing the best thing an US business can do regarding an opening Cuba right now, they will see tons of cuban businesses applying right away, and I bet a very high cash-flow, what's not to like?
Also, I can vouch for Merchise Startups (the guys Stripe are partnering with), and they know their ground, that's something you can say about (sadly) too few people in Cuba, regarding business, entrepreneurship and startups anyway. So the move gets clever by the minute...