Latest news with #GAESA
LBCI
13 hours ago
- Business
- LBCI
Trump signs memo toughening US policy towards Cuba
President Donald Trump signed a memorandum imposing a hard-line U.S. policy toward Cuba and reversing measures put in place by former President Joe Biden, the White House said. The directive will enforce a statutory ban on U.S. tourism to Cuba while supporting an economic embargo of the country, the White House said in a fact sheet. While Americans cannot visit Cuba for leisure, travel has been allowed for activities, including educational or humanitarian trips. As one of his first acts after taking office in January, Trump, a harsh Cuba critic, revoked the Biden administration's last-minute decision to remove the country from the U.S. list of state sponsors of terrorism. He has also partially restricted the entry of people from Cuba. Under Monday's memorandum, Trump renewed a ban on direct or indirect financial transactions with entities controlled by the Cuban military, such as Grupo de Administracion Empresarial S.A. (GAESA), and its affiliates, with exceptions for transactions that advance U.S. policy goals or support the Cuban people. Biden had revoked a 2017 Trump order that restricted financial transactions with some military and government-linked Cuban entities. The new memorandum "enforces the statutory ban on U.S. tourism to Cuba and ensures compliance through regular audits and mandatory record-keeping of all travel-related transactions for at least five years," the White House fact sheet said. It also supports the economic embargo of Cuba and opposes calls in the United Nations and other international forums for its termination, the fact sheet said. Cuban Foreign Minister Bruno Rodriguez posted on social media platform X that "the Presidential Memorandum against Cuba made public today by the U.S. government reinforces the aggression and economic blockade that punishes the entire Cuban people and is the main obstacle to our development." "It is a criminal act and a violation of the human rights of an entire nation. The main obstacle to our development," he said. Reuters
BBC News
18 hours ago
- Business
- BBC News
Trump imposes tougher US policy towards Cuba
US President Donald Trump has signed a memorandum which will impose a tougher policy on Cuba. The move is aimed at reversing some of the measures introduced by the Biden administration which eased US pressure on the Communist-run White House said it would enforce an existing ban on US tourism on Cuba more stringently and oppose calls by international organisations such as the UN to end the US economic embargo on Foreign Minister Bruno Rodríguez said the memorandum "strengthens the aggression & economic blockade that punishes the whole Cuban people and is the main obstacle to our development". In a fact sheet published on its website, the White House said it would end "economic practices that disproportionately benefit the Cuban government, military, intelligence, or security agencies at the expense of the Cuban people".US citizens are already banned from travelling to Cuba solely for tourism activities but there are 12 categories of travel which are permitted, including family and educational educational visits, humanitarian projects and sports competitions. The new memorandum says compliance with the existing policy will be enforced through regular audits and "mandatory record-keeping of all travel-related transactions for at least five years".It also prohibits US citizens from doing business with GAESA, a conglomerate run by the Cuban military which owns many of Cuba's is one of the main sources of hard currency for the Cuban government, but numbers of visitors have dwindled as shortages on the Caribbean island have become more severe and several nationwide power cuts plunged it into the dark. The memorandum stresses that President Trump "is committed to fostering a free and democratic Cuba, addressing the Cuban people's long-standing suffering under a Communist regime".The policies listed in the document build on measures Trump has implemented in his first term in office and also in recent after being sworn in to a second term, Trump reinstated Cuba's designation as a state sponsor of terrorism, which had been lifted just days before by the then-president, Joe Biden. Trump and his iron-fist policy towards Cuba had strong backing from the Cuban-American community in the the Trump administrations decision to end Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for Cubans - as well as Haitians, Nicaraguans and Venezuelans - was met with widespread disappointed by many Cuban-Americans.
USA Today
20 hours ago
- Business
- USA Today
Trump imposes tougher US policy toward Cuba, enforces ban on US tourism
WASHINGTON, June 30 (Reuters) - President Donald Trump on Monday signed a memorandum imposing a hard-line U.S. policy toward communist-run Cuba and reversing measures put in place by former President Joe Biden, the White House said. The directive will enforce a statutory ban on U.S. tourism to Cuba while supporting an economic embargo of the country, the White House said in a fact sheet. While Americans cannot visit Cuba for leisure, travel has been allowed for activities including educational or humanitarian trips. As one of his first acts after taking office in January, Trump, a harsh Cuba critic, revoked the Biden administration's last-minute decision to remove the country from the U.S. list of state sponsors of terrorism. He has also partially restricted the entry of people from Cuba. More: Top Cuban official accuses Trump admin of escalating tensions, raises concerns of conflict Under Monday's memorandum, Trump renewed a ban on direct or indirect financial transactions with entities controlled by the Cuban military, such as Grupo de Administracion Empresarial S.A. (GAESA), and its affiliates, with exceptions for transactions that advance U.S. policy goals or support the Cuban people. Biden had revoked a 2017 Trump order that restricted financial transactions with some military and government-linked Cuban entities. The new memorandum "enforces the statutory ban on U.S. tourism to Cuba and ensures compliance through regular audits and mandatory record-keeping of all travel-related transactions for at least five years," the White House fact sheet said. It also supports the economic embargo of Cuba and opposes calls in the United Nations and other international forums for its termination, the fact sheet said. Cuban Foreign Minister Bruno Rodriguez posted on social media platform X that "the Presidential Memorandum against Cuba made public today by the US government reinforces the aggression and economic blockade that punishes the entire Cuban people and is the main obstacle to our development." "It is a criminal act and a violation of the human rights of an entire nation. The main obstacle to our development," he said. (Reporting By Steve Holland; additional reporting by Marc Frank in Havana; Editing by Franklin Paul and Chris Reese)
Arab Times
20 hours ago
- Business
- Arab Times
US imposes tougher policy on Cuba
HOUSTON,July 1, (Xinhua): US President Donald Trump signed a memorandum on Monday to toughen US policy on Cuba, including restrictions on certain financial transactions and travel. According to a fact sheet issued by the White House, the memorandum enforces the legal ban on US tourism to Cuba by requiring mandatory record-keeping of all travel-related transactions for a minimum of five years and conducting regular audits to ensure compliance. The Trump administration aims to end economic practices that disproportionately benefit the Cuban government or its military, intelligence, or security agencies or personnel. Direct or indirect financial transactions with entities controlled by the Cuban military, such as Grupo de Administracion Empresarial S.A. (GAESA), and its affiliates are prohibited. More Cubans and entities are henceforth barred from doing business with Americans as the decades-long US economic embargo is enhanced, the memorandum shows. On the first day of his second term in January, Trump, who has always been tough on Cuba, reversed the decision made by his predecessor Joe Biden to remove Cuba from the list of "state sponsors of terrorism" before leaving office. In the final days of his first term in 2021, Trump had labeled Cuba as a "state sponsor of terrorism." Cuban Foreign Minister Bruno Rodriguez Parrilla blasted the memorandum as "a criminal behavior that violates the human rights of an entire nation." "The Presidential Memorandum vs. Cuba released today by the US government strengthens the aggression and economic blockade that punishes the whole Cuban people and is the main obstacle to our development," he said on the social platform X.
United News of India
a day ago
- Politics
- United News of India
Cuban FM calls new tightening of US sanctions 'criminal policy'
Mexico City, July 1 (UNI) US President Donald Trump's memorandum on tightening Washington's policy towards Havana demonstrates a criminal policy that violates the rights of the entire Cuban people, Cuban Foreign Minister Bruno Rodriguez Parrilla said. "The presidential memorandum against Cuba, released today by the US government, intensifies the aggression and economic blockade that punishes the entire Cuban people and is the main obstacle to our development. It is a criminal policy that violates the rights of an entire nation," Rodriguez Parilla said on X. According to a statement on the White House website, the National Security Presidential Memorandum (NSPM) signed by Trump restores and strengthens the hard line towards Cuba that was in effect during his first term, reversing the normalization steps taken under the Biden administration. The document prohibits any direct or indirect financial transactions with companies controlled by the Cuban military, including the GAESA conglomerate and its subsidiaries. Exceptions are allowed only for transactions that contribute to the achievement of US foreign policy objectives or support the Cuban population. The memorandum strengthens control over tourist travel: the ban on tourism from the United States remains in place, mandatory audits and requirements for storing financial documentation related to travel to Cuba for at least five years are introduced. At the same time, Trump confirmed the abandonment of the policy previously aimed at stimulating migration from Cuba to prevent illegal migration. The document also assumes the continuation of the blockade and countering attempts to lift it within the UN and other international organizations. It also talks about supporting a "free Cuba," the development of an independent private sector and human rights — including through expanding access to the Internet, freedom of the press and association. According to the memorandum, the United States plans to conduct a comprehensive review of human rights violations in Cuba, including cases of illegal detentions and ill-treatment of prisoners, as well as compile a list of persons hiding from US justice and sheltered by the Cuban authorities. UNI SPUTNIK GNK 0821
