Source: AFP
Private-sector entrepreneurs in Cuba will be able to set up bank accounts in the U.S. that they can access remotely, U.S. officials said Tuesday, announcing an update on the country’s Cuba policy.
The new rules modify a longstanding embargo on Cuba, allowing conditional access to the US banking system amid moves to support the private sector.
“These amendments will facilitate greater access to Internet-based services for the Cuban people,” a senior US official told reporters.
They will also “give Cuba’s independent private sector greater access to international transactions and US banking services, including through online payment platforms,” ββthe official added on condition of anonymity.
Cuban Foreign Minister Bruno Rodriguez criticized the measures as “limited”, saying they “do not reverse the harsh impact and economic suffocation” caused by Washington’s six-decade embargo.
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“These measures seek to create divisions in Cuban society,” Rodriguez wrote in X.
Under the changes, independent private sector entrepreneurs will be able to set up US bank accounts with remote access for authorized transactions.
According to US officials, this will help facilitate the importation of food, equipment and other goods that support the Cuban.
US authorities have also reinstated the authorization that allows transactions that originate and end outside the country but pass through the US financial system.
In May 2022, the administration of US President Joe Biden pledged to encourage the development of Cuba’s private sector, including supporting greater access to US internet services and e-commerce platforms.
Starting in 2021, Cuban entrepreneurs could set up private small and medium-sized businesses — after they had been banned for nearly six decades in favor of state-owned enterprises.
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About 11,000 private companies have signed up since then, US officials said.
Cuba’s centrally planned economy is in its deepest crisis since the end of Soviet subsidies in the 1990s.
“The Cuban economy is in shambles and there is growing public disenchantment with the arthritic dictatorship,” said Benjamin Gedan, director of the Latin America program at the Wilson Center.
“Greater Internet access would offer business opportunities and new tools for Cubans to work together to communicate their legitimate grievances,” he said.
Authorities said the latest announcement exempts banned Cuban government officials such as the military.
The amendment also comes shortly after the Biden administration removed Cuba from a list of countries it says are not fully cooperating in the fight against terrorism.
Cuba was on the list along with Iran, North Korea, Syria and Venezuela.
Source: AFP