The Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC), part of the United States Department of the Treasury, issued a new announcement this Monday reminding that the payment of remittances in digital form is not restricted for Cubans.
The US regulatory agency said in a short statement that OFAC general licenses “are self-executing” to carry out transactions within the scope of the authorizations modified in May, and that such transactions can be “executed without additional guarantee” of the asset control office.
“For transactions that do not fall within the scope of these authorizations, US persons may request a specific license from OFAC. For example, financial institutions that fall outside the scope”, says the announcement.
In May of this year, the administration of President Joe Biden announced changes to remittance policies to the island, which were restricted by his predecessor, Donald Trump.
Biden ordered the change as part of a package of actions aimed at making the orders more flexible and improving conditions for dissidents on the island, the White House argued at the time.
Given the step taken by Washington, the Cuban government, in the voice of Foreign Minister Bruno Rodríguez Parrilla, considered the character of the regulations announced by Biden to promote rapprochement in relations “extremely limited” and said that “the absolute validity of the economic blockade and of the most aggressive aspects of Trump’s measures”, underlie in the background despite the flexibility shown.
OFAC is the Treasury Department office that is in charge of applying economic and trade sanctions based on the foreign policy of the United States and in accordance with the national security guidelines applicable to countries that the United States government considers “foreign regimes” that support the “terrorists”, or drug trafficking, among others.
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