Long accustomed to the pressures from the United States that date back to the Cold War, Cuba is girding its loins for the latest round of economic sanctions from Washington following the Trump administration’s announcement of fresh embargo stringencies that have effectively closed more than four hundred Western Union offices in Cuba.
The move by Washington poses challenges for the continuity of vital cash remittances to Cubans at home from relatives in the United States, a circumstance that could impact significantly on the standard of living of thousands of households on the island.
More than 400 Western Union offices in Cuba will close their doors due to new embargo regulations imposed by the Trump administration, FINCIMEX, the Cuban military company that controls remittances to Cuba, said Tuesday.
Last week, a statement attributed to US Secretary of State, Mike Pompeo, asserted that the embargo was seeking to prohibit the participation of companies controlled by the Cuban military in the processing of remittances. The processing of remittances to the island is managed by FINCIMEX, a company which Havana says is “part of the Cuban financial system” and which is managed by the military.
In response to the embargo, Western Union has reportedly said that it is looking for alternatives to maintain the service.
The new embargo regulations published a week ago on Tuesday, reportedly state that the move was intended to cut the Cuban military out of the money transfer business as a means of cutting off funds that accrue to Cuban security agencies which Washington accuses of human rights violations.
Greater economic pressures resulting from the advent of the novel coronavirus pandemic will mean that the squeeze of remittances from the US could hit recipients in Cuba harder than in earlier times.
Back in September 2019 the Trump administration implemented fresh restrictions that set limits on the amount of money that Cuban Americans could send to relatives at home, simultaneously prohibiting remittances to some government officials and members of the Communist Party. Washington’s intention to make the most recent changes was announced several months ago. Simultaneously, Washington had capped the amount of money that any one person in the US could send to a Cuban family at US$1,000.
