Tag: Biden Administration

Former U.S. Officials Plead for Biden Administration To Relax Cuba Restrictions     

A group of former officials in the Bush and Obama administrations have sent a letter to President Biden and Vice President Harris. This group inclues former Havana Chief of Mission Vicki Huddleston, former deputy national security advisor Ben Rhodes and Jeffrey DeLaurentis, former acting ambassador to Cuba.[1]

Their letter urged the removal of Cuba from the State Sponsors of Terrorism List, an increase of humanitarian aid to the country and streamlining rules for Cuban nationals to access the U.S. financial system. The letter said the following:

  • “As you are aware, the country’s energy grid is failing, child malnutrition is on the rise, basic services are deteriorating and most Cubans have lost hope, precipitating the largest exodus of migrants from Cuba in its history,”
  • “In no uncertain terms do we exonerate the Cuban government for its insufficient and incoherent policy reforms that have in large part caused this crisis. Yet we also believe that current U.S. policy has exacerbated Cubans’ hardship, and thus we respectfully request that you take a series of actions in the remaining weeks of your administration to help alleviate these challenges — in the U.S. national interest and in support of the Cuban people.”
  • “As many of us have said publicly, there is no credible evidence that Cuba sponsors international terrorism. The designation has hindered Cuba’s access to international finance, reduced tourism revenues to pay for imports of food, fuel and medicine and obstructed the arrival of humanitarian relief,” wrote the officials.”
  • “Our closest allies in the region have repeatedly requested we remove this designation to ameliorate the regional impacts of surging Cuban migration, and we are confident the United States will be applauded worldwide for making this fact-based determination.”
  • Jeffrey DeLaurentis added, “In my view the only reason the Trump Administration put Cuba back on the SSOT in its waning days in January 2021 was to make it more difficult for the incoming Biden Administration to reverse Trump Administration reversals of President Obama’s wise and forward-leaning policy.”
  • “Instruct the Office of Foreign Assets Control to guide financial institutions on how to serve qualified Cuban nationals without stepping astride of U.S. sanctions. They also called for a general license to allow U.S. citizens to invest in Cuban enterprises not linked to the country’s government.”
  • “As you said in 2020, Vice President Harris, the U.S. embargo is a failed policy that only emboldens hardliners in both Miami and Havana who do not represent the Cuban people’s aspirations for a brighter and more prosperous future. We commend the steps that you have taken while in office, President Biden, to restore remittances, resume visa processing, support independent Cuban entrepreneurs and expand travel for Cuban Americans.”
  • “However, to address the scope of the current crisis in Cuba, we believe that your administration must pay close attention and act decisively to mitigate the potentially dire implications of having a failed state just 90 miles off our shores.”

Reactions

This blogger agrees with this letter’s requests to the Biden Administration.

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[1]  Bernal, Bush, Obama alumni ask Biden administration to ease up on Cuba before Trump takes office. The Hill (Dec. 17, 2024);Former US officials call on Biden to ease restrictions on the regime before the end of  his term, Diario de Cuba (Dec. 19, 2024)

 

U.S. Blames Cuba for Failure of U.S.-Cuba Reconciliation

On December 16. 2024, U.S. Deputy Secretary of State Brian Nichols made a statement about the U.S.-Cuba relationship to the editors of Marti Noticias, a Cuba organization founded in 1983 “to serve as a reliable and authoritative source of accurate, balanced and complete information for the Cuban people,” which is “a closed society where all media outlets continue to be controlled by the State, [while] Radio Martí and Martinoticias.com focus on essentially covering the Cuban issue with an alternative vision that breaks censorship.”[1]

Nichols said, ““The restoration of diplomatic relations under the Obama administration was an important step in trying to improve the lives of Cuban citizens and address challenges such as the lack of democracy on the island. However, the reforms we would have liked to see in Cuba did not occur.”

“Relations quickly cooled after Donald Trump came to power in his first term, mysterious health incidents involving US diplomats in Havana and then the brutal repression of peaceful protests by hundreds of thousands of Cubans demanding freedom.”

“In 2021 we saw a wave of repression that truly stunned the world, a huge setback for the well-being of the Cuban people and the international community. It was a missed opportunity by the Cuban regime,” Nichols added.

“Since mass protests in July 2021, the Cuban regime has imprisoned more than 1,000 political prisoners, many of them young people who took to the streets to peacefully demand fundamental freedoms. The sentences imposed amount to decades of imprisonment. Despite repeated calls from the United States for their release, Havana has ignored these demands.”

“’Our focus in Cuba is to promote private sector development and address some of the humanitarian challenges, such as the lack of economic resources and food,’ said Nichols.”

“’There is hunger, maybe not a famine, but a lot of hunger in Cuba. The economic activity of the private sector supports the well-being of ordinary people, and we have tried to support this with changes in economic regulations.’”

“In May 2024, the Joe Biden administration implemented measures to strengthen the private sector on the island, allowing Cuban entrepreneurs to open bank accounts in the United States and carry out international transactions. Cloud services were also authorized to improve Internet access and financial options were expanded to benefit the population.”

“However, the Cuban regime has hindered this development. It has restricted wholesale trade for private actors, limiting it exclusively to contracts with state entities. In addition, it eliminated incentives for new businesses, imposed higher requirements for entrepreneurship, increased taxes and tightened accounting regulations, further hampering private sector growth.”

“’’The solution to the problems Cuba faces at this time is democracy and increased freedoms,’ Nichols stressed, arguing that greater openness would allow for ‘more economic growth’ and general well-being for the population.”

“’You cannot treat the symptoms, such as the blackouts, without addressing the real disease: the lack of democracy in Cuba,’ Nichols concluded.

Reactions

There is a lot of truth in these remarks by Deputy Secretary Nichols. However, it misleadingly omits referring to U.S. actions that have contributed to the current unpleasant state of the relationship: maintenance of the U.S. embargo of the island and the U.S. designation of Cuba as a state sponsor of terrorism.

Note shold also be made about this blog’s posts about President Obama’s leadership in fostering a normalization of this bilateral relationship and the first Trump administration’s abandonment of these Obama efforts and the failure of the Biden Administration to return to the Obama normalization campaign.

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[1] Ten years after the ‘thaw’ with Havana, the U.S. says it was a ;missed opportunity,’ Diario de Cuba (Dec. 17. 2024); Penton, “A missed opportunity,’ says the US a decade after the thaw with Cuba, Marti Noricias (Dec. 16, 2024); Get to know us, Marti Noticias. See also Why Are Cuba and the U.S. Still Mired in the Cold War?, dwkcommentaries.com (Dec. 16, 2024).

 

Criticisms of the Recent U.N. General Assembly Resolution Against the U.S. Embargo of Cuba 

As discussed in a previous blog post, on October 30, the U.N. General Assembly overwhelmingly passed Cuba’s resolution condemning the U.S. embargo pf the island (187 to 2 with 4 abstentions).The U.S. and Israel again voted against the resolution while the abstentions came from Moldova, Ukraine, Somalia and Venezuela.[1]

Here now is a summary of some of the criticism of that resolution.

U.S.-Cuba Economic and Trade Council ‘s Criticism of the Resolution[2]

The U.S.-Cuba Economic and Trade Council, a private U.S. business group, stated that this U.N. resolution “will not fix Cuba, nor will it force others to fix it.” This is because “the Government of Cuba [does] not take advantage of, and actively do so, all commercial, cultural, economic, financial and political opportunities with the United States that are authorized by the policies, regulations and statutes implemented by the Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) of the United States Department of Commerce, the Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) of the United States Department of the Treasury and the Department of State.”[3]

According to this Council, Cuba repeatedly and falsely claims that   “the economic blockade and the aggression against the Cuban economy have not changed” since the end of the Trump-Pence Administration (2017-2021), [and] since the sanctions . . .have been “faithfully applied by the Biden Administration.”

However, the U.S.-Cuba Economic and Trade Council says, “in 2016, the importation of coffee from Cuba into the United States was authorized for the first time. Since 2016, Cuban health care products (medicines) have been imported into the United States for evaluation. In 2017, the importation of charcoal from Cuba into the United States was authorized for the first time. New York-based Nespresso USA Inc., a subsidiary of Lausanne, Switzerland-based Nestlé SA, exports products to the United States and imports products from the Republic of Cuba.”

This Council also states the “in 2001 Cuba made its first purchase of U.S. agricultural and food products ($4.8 million). In the subsequent 23 years, “Cuba is ranked each year among the top 60 export markets for U.S. agricultural and food products out of the 220 commercial destinations that the US has for these items.”

In addition, “starting in 2015, there were companies based in the United States that made commitments to the Republic of Cuba” despite the fact that “they had claims certified by the United States Foreign Claims Settlement Commission (USFCSC)” derived from the confiscations of American companies undertaken by Fidel Castro.”

“There are 8,821 [such] claims, of which 5,913 seek compensation valued at $1,902,202,284.95, which were certified by the USFCSC and have not been resolved for more than 60 years. (…) The Government of Cuba [has] had the opportunity to provide some claimants with certificates of full or partial settlements, at a low cost to their pockets.”

“During the Obama-Biden Administration, some of the highest-profile certified claimants had engaged with the Cuban market. The proceeds earned in Cuba by these claimants would have easily provided funding not only for the original value of the certified claim, but also for the interest value.”

“Had that small number of certified claimants resolved their claims against the Government of Cuba, the result would have been a substantial increase in interest from U.S.-based companies.”

“The Cuban government’s decision to ignore these pleas was the commercial equivalent of self-flagellation. The conclusion was then, and remains today, that the Cuban government would rather see its people suffer.”

“On May 10, 2022, the Biden-Harris Administration instructed OFAC to issue the first license authorizing direct investment and direct financing to a private company located in Cuba owned by a Cuban national. More than two years later, the Government of Cuba has still not published regulations for the provision of investment and financing. (…) The Government of Cuba is carrying out collective punishment of its businessmen,”

“Recently, the Díaz-Canel-Valdés Mesa Administration prohibited private Cuban companies from maintaining commercial bank accounts in the United States, which [were] recently authorized by the Biden-Harris Administration.”

“The Cuban government had the means, the motive, and the opportunity during the Obama-Biden and Biden-Harris Administrations to create a broad and deep commercial, economic, and financial landscape across the country, from Havana to Santiago de Cuba. But they were painfully squandered.”

Moreover, the Cuban government has taken many actions aimed at “antagonizing the White House and the United States Congress.” These include ““engaging with and supporting China, Iran, North Korea, Russia;”; “criticizing Israel;”  “supporting (or failing to condemn) Hezbollah and Hamas”; “failing to strongly support Ukraine”; “allowing Russian warships to visit Cuban ports”; “failing to enact laws and regulations that respond positively to OFAC-issued licenses authorizing direct investment and financing to the re-emerging private sector in Cuba”; “refusing to authorize private companies to have operating bank accounts in the U.S.,” and “failing to assume all decisions of the Biden-Harris Administration that benefit the re-emerging private sector in Cuba.”

Established in 1994, this Council provides an efficient and sustainable educational structure in which the United States business community may access accurate, consistent, and timely information and analysis on matters and issues of interest regarding United States-Republic of Cuba commercial, economic, and political relations..” It “does not take positions with respect to United States-Republic of Cuba political relations.  The organization is a private, not-for-profit, membership-based corporation that accepts neither United States government funding nor non-United States government funding.”

Its members have included Decatur, Illinois-based Archer Daniels Midland Company; Minneapolis, Minnesota-based Carlson Companies; Detroit, Michigan-based General Motors Corporation; Schaumburg, Illinois-based Motorola, Inc.; New York, New York-based American International Group; Springdale, Arkansas-based Tyson Foods; Memphis, Tennessee-based FedEx Corporation; Stuttgart, Arkansas-based Riceland Foods, Inc.; Bentonville, Arkansas-based Wal-Mart Stores, Inc.; Greenford, United Kingdom-based GlaxoSmithKline plc; Indianapolis, Indiana-based Eli Lilly and Company; Cleveland, Ohio-based The Sherwin-Williams Company; St. Paul, Minnesota-based 3M; Cincinnati, Ohio-based Chiquita Brands International; Minneapolis, Minnesota-based Medtronic; Oak Brook, Illinois-based Ace Hardware Corporation; Greenwood Village, Colorado-based First Data Corporation; Houston, Texas-based Enron Corporation; Berkshire, United Kingdom-based Cable & Wireless plc; London, United Kingdom-based Barclays Capital PLC; Wiltshire, United Kingdom-based Burmah Castrol Ltd.; and Paris, France-based Credit Lyonnais S.A. amongst other automotive, energy, financial services, healthcare, communications, entertainment, publishing, transportation, real estate, retail, consumer product, and other types of companies from the United States and other countries.

DDC FORUM

Last week in Madrid, Spain, Diario de Cuba, which is Cuba’s daily electronic newsletter (in Spanish and English), conducted its DDC FORUM with many speakers discussing Cuba’s many problems. For example, one of the sessions concluded, “It is the political system model that is hindering Cuba’s development and the beginning of its recovery.”3

Cuban Journalist Rafaela Cruz

Rafaela Cruz, a Cuban journalist, rejected the Cuban government’s opposition to the U.S. embargo. In summary, she asserts, Cuba’s “real blockade [is the one] that it has  imposed on individual freedom since 1959, destroying more than the economy, the entire nation.”[4]

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[1] U.N. General Assembly Overwhelmingly Adopts Resolution Condemning U.S. Embargo of Cuba, dwkcommentaries.com (Oct. 30, 2024). 

[2] “UN resolution on embargo will not fix Cuba or force others to fix it,’ Diario de Cuba (Oct. 30, 3024); U.S. Cuba Trade and Economic Council, Inc.,

[3] DDC FORUM: ‘It is the political system model that is hindering Cuba’s development and the beginning of its recovery, dwkcommentaries.com (Oct. 28,  2024)..

(4)  Cuban Journalist Rejects U.S. Embargo as Cause of Cuba’s Turmoil, dwkcommentaries.com (Oct. 26, 2024).

 

 

 

 

Other Reactions to New Treasury Department Regulations on Cuba Private Enterprise   

A senior official of the Biden Administration said that it is “essential” for the Biden administration to make sure the private sector continues to expand on the island to encourage Cubans to become self-sufficient and more independent from the government. The official also said the policy would help to stem migration from the island and counter actions by other nations, hinting at Russia, which Cuban authorities tapped to help them manage the private sector on the island. ‘Providing support for Cuba’s private sector will help to stem irregular migration from the island by creating more economic opportunity,’ the official said. ‘We believe that engaging in support of Cuba’s independent private sector will ensure that these important continental actors are supported by the United States and make it more difficult for other state actors who wish to engage economically in Cuba only in support of the government and without supporting the private and entrepreneurial sector.’”

Now “Cuban software developers to have their apps available for download on the Apple or Google app stores.”

Another administration official observed, “In light of the ‘dire straits’ of the Cuban economy, it’s clear the communist experiment in Cuba has failed and the government is no longer able to provide for its citizens‘most basic needs in a country where there are no free elections.”

“The Cuban private sector has rapidly expanded since it was first allowed in 2021, and there are now more than 10,000 small and medium enterprises, employing a third of all Cuban workers. Because the government is almost bankrupt amid a severe economic crisis, the private sector has taken roles previously unthinkable in a communist island that once banned all private property. These enterprises, known by their acronym mipymes in Spanish, have become major importers of food and other necessities in the midst of the widespread scarcity. They have become significant suppliers of the flour that state-owned bakeries need to produce bread for the public.”

“’We can congratulate the Biden administration on its commitment to helping civil society,’ said former Congressman Joe García, who has pushed to step up U.S. support to private businesses on the island. ‘These new small independent players perhaps offer the only option for helping the Cuban people.’

Ric Herrero, the executive director of the Cuban Study Group, a Washington-based organization that provides training and support to Cuban independent entrepreneurs, said on X that the ‘excessive delay’ in publishing the regulations ‘due to congressional extortion tactics has caused undue harm to independent Cuban entrepreneurs and to efforts to expand internet access in Cuba.’

John Kavulich, the president of the U.S.-Cuba Trade and Economic Council, said ‘the measures are a step in the right direction but don’t go far enough in regularizing banking transactions. While Cuban entrepreneurs can operate their U.S. accounts, it will be difficult for them to transfer money from and to their accounts using Cuban banks because there are no direct banking relations between the two countries.”

Kavulich also said, “While useful for the Biden-Harris Administration to …authorize entrepreneurs to have bank accounts in the United States, there remains one glaring omission — the continuing prohibition upon direct correspondent banking. As long as financing, investment, and payments need to be routed through third countries, the Biden-Harris Administration will be constraining precisely the activity it professes to support.”

Pedro A. Freyre, a lawyer and chairman of international practice at a major law firm in Miami, said, “the new regulations will provide more clarity regarding the private sector.” Nevertheless, the U.S. continuation of the terrorism designation [for Cuba] “has a chilling effect and banks engage in overcompliance.”

Aldo Alvarez, a lawyer based in Havana who runs a private food wholesale business, said,  “This announcement is very positive for the Cuban private sector, since it allows it to legally operate its payments collections in the U.S.”

Criticism of the new regulations came from U.S. Representatives Carlos Gimenez and Maria Elvira Salazar, both Republicans from Florida.\

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Adams, Biden Moves to Open U.S. Banks to Cuba’s Private Sector, N.Y. Times (May 28, 2024); DeYoung, Biden administration eases some economic restrictions on Cuba, Wash. Post (May 28, 2024); Torres, In a first, Cuba’s private business owners will be able to use U.S. banks, Treasury says, Miami Herald, (updated 3:15 pm, May 28, 2024).

 

 

 

 

U.S. Treasury Department Issues New Regulations To Promote Cuba’s Private Business Owners     

On May 28, the U.S. Treasury Department announced that it has prepared new regulations “to increase support for the Cuban people [that} update and clarify authorizations in support of internet-based services to promote internet freedom in Cuba, support independent Cuban private sector entrepreneurs, and expand access to certain financial services for the Cuban people.”[1]

These new regulations “update and clarify the scope of authorized internet-based services, including by adding examples of authorized services incident to the exchange of communications over the internet and updating the authorization for services in support of such communication.  Additional examples of authorized services include social media platforms, collaboration platforms, video conferencing, e-gaming and e-learning platforms, automated translation, web maps, and user authentication services.  [They are] also clarifying that persons subject to U.S. jurisdiction may provide cloud-based services (including remote data storage, data transport service, content distribution networks, virtual machines, software-as-a-service, and infrastructure-as-a-service) to support services incident to the exchange of communications over the internet.”

The new regulations also “expand the authorization for services, including training, to install, repair, or replace items related to communication, or items used to develop software that improves the free flow of information or that will support private sector activities in Cuba consistent with the export or reexport licensing policy of the Department of Commerce, including by removing the requirement that referenced items fall within specific export control classification parameters.  [They also are] further authorizing the export or reexport of Cuban-origin software and mobile applications from the United States to third countries, which will expand the ability for independent Cuban entrepreneurs to offer their software and mobile applications on global application stores.”

The new regulations add a “new term ‘independent private sector entrepreneur.’  The new term continues to include self-employed individuals, such as owners or employees of private businesses or sole proprietorships, but the amended definition now also includes private cooperatives or small private businesses that are wholly owned by or consisting solely of such individuals.  In each case, the new term is limited to private cooperatives, small private businesses, and sole proprietorships located in Cuba of up to 100 employees.  The amended definition better reflects Cuba’s non-state sector, as Cuba now authorizes the establishment of small- and medium-sized private enterprises.  Finally, [the Department]  is excluding prohibited Cuban officials and prohibited Cuban Communist Party members from the new term to ensure they do not take advantage of U.S. actions intended to benefit independent private sector entrepreneur.”

The new regulations authorize “independent private sector entrepreneurs who are Cuban nationals to open, maintain, and remotely use U.S. bank accounts, including through online payment platforms, to conduct authorized or exempt transactions, whether the independent private sector entrepreneur is physically located in the United States, Cuba, or another country.”

The new regulations reinstate “authorization for ‘U-turn’ transactions, which are funds transfers that originate and terminate outside the United States where neither the originator nor beneficiary is subject to U.S. jurisdiction.  [The Department] previously removed the authorization for ‘U-turn’ transactions in September 2019.  This reinstated authorization is intended to help the Cuban people, including independent private sector entrepreneurs, by facilitating remittances and payments for transactions in the Cuban private sector that are authorized by various provisions of the [regulations].  Under this reinstated authorization, U.S banks are authorized to process ‘U-turn’ funds transfers in which Cuba or a Cuban national has an interest, provided that neither the originator nor the beneficiary is a person subject to U.S. jurisdiction.”

Finally the new regulations authorize “the unblocking and return of any ‘U-turn’ funds transfer that was blocked prior to this reinstatement of the ‘U-turn authorization.”

A senior U.S. official “said that it was ‘essential’ for the Biden administration to make sure the private sector continues to expand on the island.”

Reactions

This is great news! Cuba’s private sector is helping ordinary Cubans cope with the extraordinary problems of the Cuban economy.

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[1]   U.S. Treasury Dep’t, Treasury Amends Regulations to Increase Support for the Cuban People and Independent Private Sector Entrepreneurs (May 28, 2024); Torres, In a first, Cuba’s private business owners will be able to use U.S. banks, Miami Herald (May 28, 2024).

 

 

Cuba Still on U.S. List of State Sponsors of Terrorism

On November 30, the U.S. State Department published its annual list of state sponsors of terrorism. Cuba is still on the list. Others on that list are North Korea, Iran and Syria.[1]

Here is what the report said about Cuba:

  • “On January 12, 2021, the Department of State designated Cuba as a State Sponsor of Terrorism.  The Secretary determined that the Cuban government repeatedly provided support for acts of international terrorism in granting safe harbor to terrorists.”
  • “Cuba was previously designated as a State Sponsor of Terrorism in 1982 because of its long history of providing advice, safe haven, communications, training, and financial support to guerrilla groups and individual terrorists.”
  • “Cuba’s designation was rescinded in 2015 after a thorough review found that the country met the statutory criteria for rescission.  In 2021 the Secretary of State determined that Cuba had repeatedly provided support for acts of international terrorism in the six years since its designation had been rescinded.  Citing peace negotiation protocols, Cuba refused Colombia’s request to extradite 10 ELN leaders living in Havana after that group claimed responsibility for the 2019 bombing of a Bogotá police academy that killed 22 people and injured 87 others.”
  • “The Cuban government did not formally respond to the extradition requests for ELN leaders Victor Orlando Cubides (aka “Pablo Tejada”) and Ramírez Pineda (aka “Pablo Beltrán”) filed by Colombia.”
  • “In November, pursuant to an order from Colombian President Petro, the Attorney General announced that arrest warrants would be suspended against 17 ELN commanders, including those whose extradition Colombia had previously requested.”
  • “Cuba also continues to harbor several U.S. fugitives from justice wanted on charges related to political violence, many of whom have resided in Cuba for decades.”

Conclusion

 As the above report indicates, “Cuba’s designation was rescinded in 2015 [by the Obama Administration] after a thorough review found that the country met the statutory criteria for rescission.” [2] That is still the proper conclusion.

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[1]  U.S. State Department, Country Reports on Terrorism (Ch.2. State Sponsors of Terrorism) (Nov. 30, 2023);Despite Havana’s tantrums, Cuba will remain on the US list of state sponsors of terrorism for another year, Diario de Cuba (Dec. 1, 2023) .

[2] President Obama Rescinds U.S. Designation of Cuba as a “State Sponsor of Terrorism,” dwkcommentaries.com (April 15, 2015);U.S. Rescinds Designation of Cuba as a “State Sponsor of Terrorism,” dwkcommentaries.com (May 29, 2015). See also “Cuba: State Sponsor of Terrorism?” section of List of Posts to dwkcommentaries—Topical: CUBA [as of 5/4/20]. 

 

More Information on Cuban Entrepreneurs

As discussed in a prior post, a group of Cuban entrepreneurs recently attended a conference in Miami, Florida.[1] According to the Miami Herald, this conference provided the following insights into the current status of private enterprise on the island.[2]

“In just two years, . . . the small and medium enterprises  have played a significant role in importing food and other basic supplies.” But some of the Cuban visitors are “producing other goods like clothes . . . fruit juice and preserves . . ., lamps . . ., and decorations and furniture . . . . Other enterprises export software and provide services like logistics, transportation, interior design and company-management solutions. And the companies are spread throughout the island, not concentrated just in Havana.” And “many of the companies have diversified.”

These enterprises fact many problems. “A major roadblock: lack of access to the international banking system.” They cannot easily  “borrow money to buy supplies, pay workers and expand their businesses.” While the Biden Administration is planning to allow these enterprises to open U.S. bank accounts, “experts believe few U.S. banks will take the risk” because the U.S. still lists Cuba as a state sponsor of terrorism.

Those Cuban enterprises that have bank accounts in other countries face the difficulty of converting the Cuban peso into foreign currencies, especially the U.S. dollar. And the Cuban government recently limited cash withdrawals from Cuban banks and demanded that most transactions take place online.

Cuban enterprises also face difficulties in obtaining capital, credit, technology, expertise, cheaper providers and basic materials like food preservatives and packaging  from the U.S. and other countries. They also need help in training employees on new technologies.

These challenges are “particularly acute in the construction field, where it is difficult to retain labor because of the continual mass emigration of Cubans to the U.S. and other countries.” This will be worse in the near future because “most of Cuba’s infrastructure and residential buildings are in bad shape.”

Some enterprises are forced to buy essential supplies from Europe and China, which increases their costs and, therefore, their prices in Cuba.

Of course, these enterprises still face challenges from the omnipresence of the Cuban government regulating what they can do.

On the plus side, the recent gathering in Miami of Cuban enterprises has led to the opening of an office in Florida to support Cuban entrepreneurs visiting the U.S. with work space, car rentals, mail and other business essentials.

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[1] Signs of Increasing Connections Between Cuban Private Enterprise and the U.S., dwkcommentaries.com (Sept. 27, 2023).

[2] Torres, Miami visit gave a rare inside look at Cuba’s fledgling capitalists. Some key takeaways, Miami Herald (Oct. 2, 2023).

Signs of Increasing Connections Between Cuban Private Enterprise and U.S.  

As noted in prior posts, Cuba has a small and prospering private business sector in its economy.[1]

The Biden Administration has been indicating that it will adopt regulatory changes that will bolster that entrepreneurial sector by giving Cuban entrepreneurs access to the U.S. banking system. In addition, Cubans could access U.S. internet services (e.g., videoconferencing, e-learning, automated translation, I.T. managing services and cloud-based services). These upcoming changes are prompted by the Administration’s seeing these Cuban businesses as Cuba’s best hope to grow its economy and curb the outflow of its citizens escaping the island’s dire economy. But as of September 27th no such changes have been officially announced.[2]

On September 25-26, about 70 Cuban entrepreneurs from the island attended an event in Miami that offered advice on how to improve their businesses and navigate the restrictions imposed by the U.S. embargo.[3]

Former congressman Joe Garcia, who helped organize the trip, said, ““The Cuban American community believes that an essential part of a future democratic and prosperous Cuba includes a free enterprise system.” Garcia, who does consulting for some companies doing business with Cuba’s private sector, added that the basic idea behind the trip is to prove that these enterprises are real and not a front for the Cuban government.

The Cuban visitors consists of men and women from various Cuban provinces, some of whom have never been to the United States. They own businesses in several sectors, including transportation, construction, software development, clothes and beauty products and manufacturing. Many said they are looking to cut costs and prices by contacting providers directly so they don’t have to buy from resellers. Others are searching for a market and partnerships to help them scale their operations.

One of the visitors, Zoraida Perez Barrera, has a small but successful women’s and baby clothing business in Santa Clara, a city in central Cuba with 14 employees. She wants to find a U.S. market for her products. “All of us who are Cuban know how rooted we are in our traditions and I make the traditional newborn arrival clothes. In fact, people who live [in Miami] ask us how to buy the baby clothes.”

Some of these relatively new private companies on the island  have become major employers and significant importers of food and other essential goods at a time when “the Cuban state is broke,” said Aldo Alvarez, whose own company, Mercatoria, has been importing large quantities of wheat, chicken and cooking oil to sell on the island.

Several of the visiting entrepreneurs said they are particularly encouraged by news reported by the Miami Herald that the Biden administration is readying to announce new regulations allowing Cuban private entrepreneurs to open bank accounts in the United States —something they can’t do now because of the U.S. embargo that would make it easier for them to pay providers abroad.

Also in attendance were two of the largest Miami exporters to Cuba’s private sector: Hugo Cancio, the owner of Katapulk, a marketplace for over a hundred private enterprises, and Ariel Pereda, whose company, Pearl Merchandising & Distribution, first started selling food to Alimport, the Cuban state monopoly, and now is primarily exporting to the private sector.

A keynote address was provided by U.S. healthcare executive and billionaire Mike Fernandez, who said he believes Cuba’s new private businesses are “the beginning of something monumental that will change” Cuba, though there is always the threat that Cuba could “reverse the process” if it finds other ways to resolve its economic crisis.

This gathering also heard from U.S. lawyers and U.S. officials from the Departments of State, Treasury and Commerce, who explained the regulations that allow American companies to export goods to the Cuban private sector. Though the embargo generally prohibits any transactions involving Cuba, the Obama administration eased restrictions on transactions if the final beneficiary is a member of the private sector, not the Cuban government.

A few days earlier Cuba President Miguel Diaz-Canel, who was at the U.N. in New York City, met with approximately 40 representatives of the American private sector, including Hugo Cancio, and told them that the Cuban regime is considering allowing Cuban Americans to invest and own businesses in Cuba. But the President was not prepared to discuss in detail the new regulations the regime needs to pass to allow private companies in Cuba to receive investment and financing from American companies.[4]

Conclusion

 Let us hope that the U.S. soon will announce the promised new regulations to enhance Cuban entrepreneurs access to the U.S. banking system and that this sector of the island’s economy will continue to prosper. Of course, the U.S. also should end its embargo of the island and its designation of Cuba as a state sponsor of terrorism, both of which would improve the lives of Cubans on the island while Cuba should end its recent expansion of Russian and Chinese military and espionage activities on the island.

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[1] See, e.g., these posts to dwkcommentaries: U.S. Needs To Improve Relations with Cuba (Aug. 4, 2023);COMMENT: Developments Regarding U.S. Private Exports to Cuba (Aug. 25, 2023);1.5 Million Tourists Tourists Have Visited the Island So Far this Year (Aug. 26, 2023).

[2] Martin & Wilcary, Biden Readies Measures to Support Cuba’s Small Business Owners, Wash. Post (Sept. 18, 2023). Torres, Cuban entrepreneurs to be allowed to open U.S. bank accounts, access internet services, Miami Herald (Sept. 19, 2023).

[3] Torres, In historic meeting, Cuba’s private entrepreneurs look for opportunities in Miami, Miami Herald (Sept. 26, 2023); Almost 70 MSME ‘entrepreneurs’ from Cuba arrive in Miami looking to do business, Diario de Cuba (Sept. 26, 2023).

[4] Diaz-Canel baits Cuban-Americans who want to own businesses on the island, Diario de Cuba (Sept. 23, 2023);Reyes, Diaz-Canel did not make the announcement in the US that businessmen expected, reproaches the anti—embargo lobby, Diario de Cuba (Sept, 25, 2023).

U.N. Agency Reports Afghan Human Rights Violations Against Former U.S. Partners

On March 28, 2002, the U.N. Security Council established the U.N. Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) to promote peace and stability in that country and thereafter that mandate annually has been renewed and revised to reflect the continued needs of that country. This Mission’s headquarters is in Kabul with a field presence of around 1,187 staff throughout the country.[1]

UNAMA’s Report on Taliban’s Human Rights Violations[2]

On August 22, 2023, UNAMA released its report that the Taliban has committed at least 800 human-rights violations against U.S. partners since the Taliban’s takeover of the country in 2021. Members of the Afghan National Army are at the “greatest risk,” followed by national and local police officers and National Directorate of Security officials. Targets also include prosecutors, judges and national, provincial and district officials who served in the U.S.-backed government.

At least 218 Afghan partners have been murdered, the report says. “Some were taken to detention facilities and killed while in custody,” the report says, while “others were taken to unknown locations and killed, their bodies either dumped or handed over to family members.”

In addition, the report asserts that there have been 144 instances of torture and maltreatment, including beatings with pipes and cables, plus at least 14 enforced disappearances and more than 424 arbitrary arrests.

Reactions to the U.N. Report[3]

The New York Times and the Wall Street Journal reported on the above details of this report.

Their articles also noted that “tens of thousands of such former officials remain in Afghanistan, unable or unwilling to join the scramble of Afghans to flee abroad” after the Taliban takeover and inhabit a “climate of  fear.”

These news articles quoted the report as saying, “the abuses it found work against the healing of wounds in society from Afghanistan’s 40 years of war, and contravene the Taliban’s obligations under international human-rights law” and “the de facto authorities’ failure to fully uphold their publicly stated commitment and to hold perpetrators of human rights violations to account may have serious implications for the future stability of Afghanistan.”

The Wall Street Journal also published an editorial claiming that “the Biden Administration wants Americans to forget about Afghanistan” and “continues to offer too few visas for Afghans who helped America. Some Afghan partners told the U.N. that they ‘have gone into hiding’ and ‘live in fear of being arrested or killed by a member of the de facto authorities.’” Therefore, this editorial concludes, “These ugly details add to the disgrace of one of America’s worst betrayals.”

The Taliban government in a statement appended to the UNAMA report said that after the Taliban had seized power, its supreme leader had issued a blanket amnesty to all former government members, that only people acting against the Taliban had been arrested and prosecuted and,  “After the victory of the Islamic Emirate until today, cases of human rights violations (murder without trial, arbitrary arrest, detention, torture, and other acts against human rights) by the employees of the security institutions of the Islamic Emirate against the employees and security forces of the previous government have not been reported.”

Although not mentioned in the U.N. report, the U.S. needs to adopt the Afghan Adjustment Act, which would provide permanent legal status for Afghans who have been admitted to the U.S. on temporary parole visas because of their assistance to U.S. troops and personnel before September 2021.[4]

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[1] UNAMA, About.

[2] Press Release, U.N. Assistance Mission in Afghanistan, Impunity Prevails for Human Rights Violations Against Former Government Officials and Armed Forces Members (Aug. 22, 2023); UNAMA, A barrier to securing peace: Human rights violations against former government officials and former armed force members in Afghanistan: 15 August 2021—30 June 2023.

[3] Pena, U.N. Says Taliban Committed Rights Abuses Despite Blanket Amnesty, N.Y. Times (Aug. 22, 2023); Shah, Afghans Who Allied with U.S. Face Killings, Arrests Under Taliban Rule, U.N. Finds, W.S.J. (Aug. 22, 2023); Editorial: The Fate of America’s Afghan Partners, W.S.J. (Aug. 22, 2023)Response by the de facto Ministry of Foreign Affairs to UNAMA Human Rights Service report, regarding the violation of human rights against the employees and military forces of the previous government, Directorate of Human Rights & Women’s International Affairs, Kabul (Aug. 2023).

[4] Introduction of New Proposed Afghan Adjustment Act, dwkcommentaries.com (July 31, 2023).

Increasing Migrant Crossings at U.S. Border Call for Legal Changes

This July more than 130,000 migrants were apprehended at the U.S.-Mexico border. The fastest growth in this immigration, with 40,000 of the total, was in the Border Patrol’s Tucson sector, which comprises most of Arizona, which was the most since April 2008. U.S. authorities attribute this increase to smugglers now guiding migrants to the border across the most remote and harsh stretches of the Arizona desert between Yuma and Tucson to avoid detection. [1]

Crossing in desert areas in the summer can be deadly, with ground temperatures well exceeding 100 degrees Fahrenheit at times, officials say. Such extreme conditions have led to a spike in 911 calls.  Agents responding to such calls for help routinely find dozens or even hundreds of migrants in need of aid and trying to surrender to arriving border agents.

Cuba is experiencing growth in out-migration. Social-media advertisements on the island have recently increased offering door-to-door transportation to the U.S. through flights from Cuba to Nicaragua and ground travel across Central America and Mexico. Although new Biden policies require Cubans to have a U.S. citizen-sponsor for legal entry to the U.S., many Cubans do not have such sponsors and some officials say, “For ordinary Cubans, finding a sponsor who has money in the U.S. is Mission Impossible.”[2]

Another indication of this migrant pressure is the recent guilty plea by the owners of a Williamsburg, Virginia cleaning business who operated a “labor trafficking enterprise” that smuggled over 100 migrants from El Salvador, including minors, and forced them to work in U.S. under threats of violence and deportation.[3]

Recommended Changes

 Andrea R. Flores, who served as an immigration policy adviser in the Obama and Biden administrations, says, “Until Congress finds the political will to act, the president should use his authority to relieve pressure on our asylum system and give migrants the ability to legally work once they reach the United States.”[4] To that end, she recommends the following:

  • “While far from perfect, the Biden administration’s parole program for Cubans, Haitians, Nicaraguans and Venezuelans could serve as a model for what is possible. This policy provides safer options to people who are unlikely to meet the legal requirements for asylum, but who still have urgent humanitarian reasons to flee their homes.”
  • The President should “use his authority to grant Temporary Protected Status to the hundreds of thousands of Venezuelans who lack work authorization, which would be a boon for immigrants and the communities that welcome them. A 2023 analysisby FWD.us, a bipartisan group founded by American business leaders that favors more humane immigration reform, found that T.P.S. holders contribute $22 billion in wages annually to the U.S. economy.”
  • “The administration should also act quickly to increase the number of appointments at ports of entry; add new countries eligible for parole; lift caps on countries with urgent resettlement needs, as it did for Ukraine; and invest resources in adjudicating asylum cases expeditiously.”

Noted commentator, Fareed Zakaria, points out the obvious: “America’s immigration system is broken.” [5]Therefore, he says the following: “The laws and rules around asylum must be fixed so that immigration authorities can focus on the small number of genuine asylum seekers while compelling the rest to seek other legal means of entry. At the same time, it’s important to note that the United States is facing a drastic shortfall of labor and must expand legal immigration in many areas for just that reason. We urgently need to attract the world’s best technically skilled people so that they can push forward the information and biotech revolutions that are transforming the economy and life itself. With unemployment rates around 50-year lows, it is obvious that we need more workers in many sectors of the economy, from agriculture to hospitality. If this is done in a legal and orderly manner, Americans will welcome the new workers.”

Therefore, he says Biden “should propose an immigration bill that is genuinely bipartisan and forces compromises from both sides. It would be one more strong dose of evidence that policy can triumph over populism.” Good luck on doing that.

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[1] Perez & Caldwell, Migrant Crossings on the Rise Again at U.S. Border,W.S.J. (Aug. 12, 2023); Miroff & Sacchetti, Border arrests surged in July, a blow to Biden immigration plan, Wash. Post (Aug. 1, 2023).

[2] Perez & Caldwell, Migrant Crossings on the Rise Again at U.S. Border, W.S.J. (Aug. 12, 2023).

[3] Paul, Laundry company owners guilty of trafficking migrants, minors for labor, Wash. Post (Aug. 13, 2023).

[4] Flores, We Know What Doesn’t Work at the Border. Here’s a Better Solution, N.Y. Times (Aug. 10, 2023).

[5] Zakaria, Immigration can be fixed. So why aren’t we doing it?, Wash. Post (Aug. 11, 2023).