Trump Freezes Cash Flows to Cuba’s Most Lucrative Regime-Run Companies

President Donald Trump on Monday signed a National Security Presidential Memorandum (NSPM) implementing a tougher U.S. policy against Cuba’s communist regime and reversing concessions granted by former U.S. President Joe Biden.

The memorandum restores the tough stance against the Castro regime implemented by President Trump during his first term and rescinds the Biden administration’s lax measures, some of which allowed the Castro regime — a U.S.-designated state sponsor of terrorism — to financially benefit.

“My Administration’s policy will be guided by the national security and foreign policy interests of the United States, as well as solidarity with the Cuban people,” President Trump said in the memorandum. “I will seek to promote a stable, prosperous, and free country for the Cuban people. To that end, we must channel funds toward the Cuban people and away from a regime that has failed to meet the most basic requirements of a free and just society.”

He continued:

In Cuba, dissidents and peaceful protesters are arbitrarily detained and held in terrible prison conditions. Violence and intimidation against dissidents occur with impunity. Families of political prisoners are retaliated against for peacefully protesting the improper confinement of their loved ones. Worshippers are harassed, and free association by civil society organizations is blocked. The right to speak freely, including through access to the internet, is denied, and there is no free press. The United States condemns these abuses.

The initial actions set forth in this memorandum, including restricting certain financial transactions and travel, encourage the Cuban government to address these abuses. My Administration will continue to evaluate its policies so as to improve human rights, encourage the rule of law, foster free markets and free enterprise, and promote democracy in Cuba.

The measures signed by President Trump impose a strict ban on any direct or indirect financial transactions by entities controlled by the Cuban military, such as GAESA, a broad holding company which controls several Cuban key sectors — most notably, the country’s hotel and tourism infrastructure.

The Castro regime, through GAESA, has turned the country’s tourism industry into an important funding source for its brutal repression of Cuban citizens. While President Trump imposed sanctions on the Cuban military in 2020 that prevented it from controlling remittances sent to Cuba, El Nuevo Herald reported in December that GAESA had successfully bypassed Biden administration policies with a “civilian” remittance processing company that in reality was secretly run by the Cuban military.

The measures enforce the statutory ban on U.S. tourism to Cuba and ensure compliance of the ban through regular audits and mandatory record-keeping of all travel-related transactions for a period of at least five years. The travel restrictions include specific exceptions such as those related to legitimate educational purposes, providing support to the Cuban people, or promoting their independence from the regime.

The memorandum supports the Cuban “embargo” and opposes calls in the United Nations and other international organizations for its termination. Additionally, the measures uphold the termination of the “Wet Foot, Dry Foot” policy, which allowed any Cuban who touches ground in America to stay in the country legally. President Trump explained in the memorandum that the policy “encouraged untold thousands of Cuban nationals to risk their lives to travel unlawfully to the United States.”

The NSPM also includes provisions to “amplify efforts to support the Cuban people through the expansion of internet services, free press, free enterprise, free association, and lawful travel.” The policies also call for a review of human rights abuses in Cuba committed by the Castro regime and calls for a report on fugitives from American justice presently living in Cuba or being harbored by the communist regime.

“Let there be no doubt, under President Trump’s leadership we will hold the illegitimate Cuban regime accountable and stand with the Cuban people in their pursuit of liberty and justice,” Secretary of State Marco Rubio said on Monday afternoon.

The Castro regime immediately condemned President Trump’s memorandum. Cuban figurehead “President” Miguel Díaz-Canel claimed on social media that the measures, which he described as an “aggressive plan against Cuba,” allegedly responding to “narrow interests” and are not representative of the majority of the country. According to Díaz-Canel, the measures seek to cause “the greatest possible damage and suffering to the people” and asserted that “the impact will be felt, but they will not break us.”

Granma, the official newspaper of the Communist Party of Cuba, issued a lengthy rant on Monday morning condemning President Trump and his measures, branding them the “cynicism of the empire” and claiming that the policies stand in violation of the rights of all of Cuba.

“The latest paper on Cuba, signed yesterday by the head of the empire, is more of the same. Its guidelines are: freedom for the people, democracy, respect for human rights and human dignity, and protection for dissidents and ‘peaceful demonstrators,’” Granma claimed. “It legally prohibits U.S. tourism on the island; supports the economic, commercial and financial blockade; prevents the reestablishment of the ‘wet feet, dry feet’ policy; restricts financial transactions to Cuba; and grants the ‘dedicated’ Rubio the power to identify any entity under the control of, or acting for or on behalf of Cuban companies, as well as to regulate their financial transactions.”

The communist newspaper also attempted to link the sanctions on Cuba to the January 6, 2021, Capitol riot and to the ongoing war between Israel and the jihadist terrorist organization Hamas in Gaza, which Cuba supports.

Christian K. Caruzo is a Venezuelan writer and documents life under socialism. You can follow him on Twitter here.