When the List of Restricted Entities was imposed more
than 30 banks ended relations with Cuba.
Elizabeth Naranjo | internet@granma.cu
January 18th, 2025
Since 2017 the List of Restricted Entities has contributed
to make the policy of isolation of the blockade against Cuba increasingly
challenging for Cuba, Cubans and many third countries.
Among the three measures adopted by the administration of
U.S. President Joe Biden a few days before ending his term, is the elimination
of the List of Restricted Cuban Entities, which designates a group of institutions
with which U.S. citizens and institutions are prohibited from carrying out financial
transactions, and which has had greater effects on third countries.
In this regard, the coordinator of the Legal Affairs and
Analysis Department of the General Directorate of the United States Ministry of Foreign
Affairs, Jorge Luis Cepero Aguilar, stated to the press that this decision,
together with the other two, are on the right track but that still “the blockade is
maintained and its normative body continues with the violation of International Law.”
The list of “restricted entities” was disclosed for the
first time in November 2017, as part of the measures of the Donald Trump government, in
correspondence with the isolation of Cuba that the blockade pursues.
In the report of the damages caused by the economic,
commercial and financial blockade imposed by the United States on Cuba, it is stated
that, so far, “the first list includes 231 entities or companies, practically the
entire Cuban business network; while the second covers 422 hotels and
accommodations, that is, almost all hotel facilities.”
The report also states that “the provision applies to US
citizens, who are prohibited from staying or dealing with the listed entities, but in
practice, people from third countries also refrain from coming to Cuba because of the
confusion and fear generated by these blacklists.”
Cepero Aguilar pointed out that “this is an example of what
Cuba has consistently said, that the blockade is not a bilateral element, but
rather has an extraterritorial effect.” He also added that just like Title III of the
Helms-Burton Act, this list caused fear to entities from third countries, even though it
had nothing to do with the relationship between Cuba and the United States. Based
on this list, he maintained, the Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC)
fined those companies that had any business with Cuban companies that were
restricted, so they could be subjected to scrutiny.
He argued also that it caused these foreign entities to
prefer to do business with the United States and avoid violating any norm, therefore
cutting ties with Cuba. “Once this list was adopted, and more than 230 Cuban
entities were included, more than 30 foreign banks immediately cut their relations
with Cuba,” he said. This is precisely, he added, the extraterritorial effect
that supposes and implies the violation of International Law.
(Taken from Granma) Translation NSCUBA
