Cuban government calls US regulations ‘limited’

The Cuban government criticized recently US regulations aimed at increasing support for private sector entrepreneurs and promoting internet freedom on the island, calling them “restricted”. These measures include allowing cloud-based services to facilitate communication on the Internet and expanding telecommunications equipment installation services. However, Cuban authorities argue that these steps “do not address the substance of the blockade of Cuba or additional sanctions.”

According to Minister of Foreign Affairs Bruno Rodríguez Parrillathe new measures do not reverse the “cruel impact” of the embargo on Cuban families or the designations Cuba as a state sponsor of terrorism. “These measures aim to create divisions in Cuban society while the US government funds disinformation campaigns,” Rodríguez Parrilla said on his Twitter account.

Rodríguez Parrilla shared a statement Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MINREX), accusing the U.S. government of targeting only a portion of the population due to a distorted image of Cuban reality. According to MINREX, the United States intends to artificially separate the private sector from the public sector, “even though both are part of the Cuban business system and society as a whole.”

“The goal is to give an advantage to the private sector, which has legally established itself and developed under the sovereign measures taken by the Cuban government. The same applies to access to the Internet, which Cuba has established and expanded despite the obstacles and restrictions resulting from the free access blockade,” the statement said.

“The United States government has clearly expressed its intention to use this sector for anti-revolutionary political purposes, consistent with its regime change goals,” the text says. Havana emphasizes that both the public and private sectors will continue to feel the effects of the embargo and accuses White House aimed at punishing the Cuban state sector.

“The Government of Cuba will analyze these measures and if they do not violate national legislation and are openly beneficial to the Cuban people, even if only to a part of them, this will not impede their implementation,” the document concludes.

Meanwhile, Johan Tablad, deputy general manager for the United States at MINREX, held a press conference to reiterate her ministry’s official statement. “Once again, the U.S. government is trying to adapt its actions not to the Cuban reality, but to the fiction it has created about the Cuban reality,” she said.

On Tuesday, US Treasury DepartmentBy Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC), announced new changes to Cuba’s asset control laws to increase support for private Cuban entrepreneurs and promote internet freedom on the island. One measure allows the export and re-export of software and mobile applications originating in Cuba from the United States to third countries.

Another significant change is the redefinition of “independent private sector entrepreneurs”, now excluding officials of the banned regime and members of the so-called Communist Party. The new definition covers not only individual entrepreneurs, but also cooperatives and other private entities employing up to 100 employees.

An important change is that private Cuban entrepreneurs will be able to access U.S. bank accounts and conduct third-country financial transactions (U-Turn transactions) to send remittances and other payments to individuals on the island. This invalidates a Trump administration regulation that prohibited U.S. banks from processing Cuba-related transactions through third-country banks. This could allow companies like WesternUnion restoring services in its international offices.

U-Turn transactions will allow banking institutions to process funds transfers involving Cuba, provided they originate and are entered into outside the United States and do not involve persons subject to U.S. jurisdiction. “This measure will improve the flow of remittances and payments for authorized transactions in the Cuban private sector, economically supporting entrepreneurs and their companies,” OFAC noted.