Trump tees up tougher policy toward Cuba
The order largely reups a 2017 document Trump signed in Miami as an overture to the city's Cuban exile community, restoring its restrictions on travel to the communist island and its economic embargo.
But Monday's order also directs the U.S. government to combat a web of companies allegedly operated by the Cuban military in contravention of U.S. sanctions. It orders the Secretary of State to identify entities which direct or indirectly conduct financial transactions that benefit Cuba's military or intelligence services. The 2017 iteration of the order only focused on GAESA's direct financial transactions.
It's one of a number of actions Trump has taken against the Cuban government in his second term, and continues with his efforts to reverse Biden administration moves to improve the bilateral relationship with Havana.
Trump has long shown a desire to satisfy Miami's Cuban exile community, which has largely supported him in elections and many of whom advocate for the U.S. to facilitate the ouster of the island's communist government. His secretary of State, Marco Rubio, is the son of Cuban immigrants and the president has named several Cuban Americans to top ambassadorships and other senior roles in his administration.
On his first day in office, Trump ordered that Cuba be reinstated to the list of state sponsors of terror and restored a list of 'restricted entities' tied to the Cuban government which are subject to additional financial sanctions. The president later reimposed other measures that allow individuals, including Cuban exiles, to file claims against the Cuban government for property seized at the height of the Cuban revolution.
The focus of Monday's order on the Cuban military's alleged business interests highlights the Trump administration's desire to use 'creative' means to punish Havana. The Miami Herald has reported that GAESA secretly operated remittance companies in contravention of U.S. sanctions, bringing in billions of dollars in revenue every year. Earlier this year, Secretary of State Marco Rubio targeted one remittance company, Orbit S.A., which was allegedly run by a former GAESA executive. Those indirect relationships have been used by Cuban exile politicians as evidence that GAESA is looking to evade sanctions.
The Trump administration has also threatened to revoke the visas of Cuban officials and officials in other countries who violate the rights of Cuban doctors on state-organized medical missions, which provide Cuba with billions of dollars that it claims it directs towards its own healthcare system. It is unclear if any Cuban official has yet been punished under the auspices of that policy, though the State Department did revoke the visas of Central American officials on those grounds earlier this month.
The Cuban government, which sharply denies longstanding allegations from the U.S. government and the Cuban exile community that Havana poses a national security threat to the United States and grossly violates human right, condemned the Trump administration measures Monday. On X, Cuban Foreign Minister Bruno Rodriguez Parrilla called the order 'criminal' and said it 'reinforces aggression and the economic blockade which punishes the entire Cuban people and serves as the principal obstacle for our development.'
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