Cuba’s First American-Owned Manufacturer Will Make Tractors

“Come on, boy! Get dressed! We got to go!” yells Horace Clemmons. He’s heckling his longtime friend and business associate, Saul Berenthal, who sits cross-legged on a leather chair in the living room of Clemmons’s home in Paint Rock, Alabama. It’s a Tuesday in mid-April, and the duo is scheduled to give a presentation to a group of local investors about their new business, Cleber. In February, the U.S. Department of the Treasury approved Cleber’s request to be the first U.S.-based company to construct and operate a manufacturing facility in Cuba. They plan to build low-tech tractors for small farms.

“All right, all right!” Berenthal says, grinning, stretching his vowels. “But I need to see my choice of dress first.” He stands up and saunters into the guest bedroom. He’s come from his home in North Carolina for the event and is staying with Clemmons.