(March 11, 2026)

When Cuban-American billionaire Jorge Mas Santos (henceforth, Mas) visited the White House last week, the meeting was less focused on Inter Miami’s MLS Cup victory and more on the evergreen influence of Miami’s business elite over Washington’s Cuba policy.

Mas, the chairman of a powerful family business empire and longtime political player in South Florida, has spent decades advocating for tightening U.S. sanctions on Cuba until the island’s political system changes. He inherited the position from his father, Jorge Mas Canosa, who formed the Cuban American National Foundation (CANF) with the help of the Reagan administration as part of Washington’s effort to counter leftist governments in Latin America and the Caribbean.