WSJ’s piece on Cuban exile businessmen drawing up grand plans for the island’s post-communist future has gotten a lot of attention. But as one of its authors noted, exile business leaders have been drawing up transition plans for Cuba for close to 70 years. What’s different today is that new generations of Cubans aren’t waiting for the all-or-nothing conditions enshrined in Helms-Burton to be met, nor for the property interests of past generations to be settled before entering the market. A silent swarm of private mipymes (SMEs on both shores) is already forging ahead, one transaction and relationship at a time, generating some $1.5 billion in annual bilateral trade, mostly in light fuels, food, household goods, hygiene products, and used cars. They are building international supply chains and internal distribution networks. They’re dismissed as “testaferros” here, “especuladores” there, or amateur “pan con bistec” on both sides. But these labels are used to sidestep an uncomfortable reality: these entrepreneurs, the proverbial men and women “in the arena”, are already operating across the divide and shaping Cuba’s economic future while others remain on the sidelines waiting for perfect conditions to arrive. Established Cuban-American business leaders would do well to get to know these mipymeros, support their ventures, and call for U.S. policy changes that give them greater room to thrive. The Cuban government, meanwhile, should continue removing unnecessary obstacles to private-sector growth, recognizing that any hope of safeguarding national sovereignty begins with prosperity at home, and runs through a vibrant independent economy. It is private mipymes, and not unproductive state enterprises, who are l the fundamental drivers of any 21st century economy. The silent swarm, in turn, needs to make its presence better known. Most operate discreetly because their work draws attacks from gadflies at both extremes, while others navigate the margins of the narrow space left by a seven-decade morass of U.S. sanctions and Cuban anti-capitalist restrictions. But they must define themselves or the ill-willed will do it for them. Against the odds, these entrepreneurs are carving out something new. To the extent there are winners in the current bilateral stalemate, they are among them. If and when the transition comes, they will have proved consequential. Anyone serious about the future of U.S.-Cuba relations should make more room for the people shaping its cross-border economy today.