By Nelson A. King
The United States Department
of the Treasury says its
Office of Foreign Assets Control
(OFAC) has amended the
Cuban Assets Control Regulations
(CACR) to further implement
US President Donald J.
Trump’s June 2017 National
Security Presidential Memorandum
(NSPM) Strengthening
the Policy of the United
States Towards Cuba.
The U.S. Treasury Department
said that the changes
amend certain authorizations
related to the provision
of remittances to Cuba and
eliminate the authorization for
specific financial transactions
known as “U-turn” transactions.
“We are taking additional
steps to financially isolate the
Cuban regime,” Treasury Secretary
Steven Mnuchin said
in a statement. “The United
States holds the Cuban regime
accountable for its oppression
of the Cuban people and
support of other dictatorships
throughout the region, such
as the illegitimate Maduro
regime. Through these regulatory
amendments, Treasury is
denying Cuba access to hard
currency, and we are curbing
the Cuban government’s bad
behavior while continuing to
support the long-suffering people
of Cuba.”
The U.S. Treasury Department
said these actions mark
“an ongoing commitment to
implement the President’s
Cuba policy.”
Previously, on June 5, OFAC
further restricted non-family
travel to Cuba by removing an
authorization for group peopleto
people educational travel,
pursuant to an April 17 foreign
policy announcement.
The recently announced
Treasury Department changes
will take effect on Oct. 9, which
is 30 days from the date the
regulations will be published in
the U.S. Federal Register.
In the changes, the Treasury
Department said OFAC places
a cap of US$1,000 per quarter
Caribbean L 8 ife, September 13-19 2019
that one remitter can send per
quarter to one Cuban national,
“and is prohibiting remittances
to close family members of
prohibited Cuban officials and
members of the Cuban Communist
Party.”
On remittances to certain
individuals and independent
non-governmental organizations
in Cuba, the Treasury
Department said OFAC adds
a provision authorizing such
remittances to support the
operation of economic activity
in the non-state sector by selfemployed
individuals “in light
of the NSPM’s policy to encourage
the growth of the Cuban
private sector independent of
government control.”
The Treasury Department
said OFAC is also removing
the authorization for banking
institutions subject to US
jurisdiction to process certain
funds transfers originating and
terminating outside the United
States, commonly known as
“U-turn” transactions.
“Banking institutions subject
President Donald Trump Alex Brandon/AP
to US jurisdiction will be
authorized to reject such transactions,
but may no longer
process the transactions,” the
Treasury Department said.
The U.S. Department of State
said that “in line with the president’s
foreign policy on Cuba,
these actions are designed to
target the Cuban regime while
continuing to provide vital
relief to the long-suffering people
of Cuba.”
Trump’s latest action is
another step in his unrelenting
campaign to roll back former
U.S. President Barack Obama’s
policy on Cuba.
Obama had restored diplomatic
ties and loosened travel
restrictions to the Spanishspeaking
Caribbean country.
Trump toughens rules on
U.S. sanctions with Cuba
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