The United States on Tuesday announced changes to its sanctions on Cuba, lifting export payment and financing restrictions and facilitating airline travel in Washington's latest move to ease the U.S. embargo on the Communist-ruled island.
The amendments, which take effect on Wednesday, "will remove restrictions on payment and financing terms for authorized exports and re-exports to Cuba of items other than agricultural items or commodities," according to a statement from the Treasury and Commerce Departments.
The changes will facilitate travel to Cuba by allowing blocked space, code-sharing, and leasing arrangements with Cuban airlines, it said.
They will authorize additional transactions dealing with professional meetings, disaster preparedness, information and informational materials, concerning transactions incident to professional media or artistic productions in Cuba, it said.
The practical impact of the latest round of sanctions relief for Cuba will depend in large part on action the Cuban government may take to liberalize its economy, U.S. officials said.
"The impact of those will depend to a great extent on the steps that the Cuban government takes," said an Obama administration official who asked not to be identified. The official said U.S. companies had raised issues including Cuban currency reform and allowing foreign companies to hire Cubans directly.
The latest changes come as Washington and Havana move closer toward normal relations after more than half a century of hostility that followed Cuba's 1959 revolution. The two countries restored diplomatic ties and reopened embassies last summer.
"Today's amendments to the Cuban Assets Control Regulations build on successive actions over the last year and send a clear message to the world: the United States is committed to empowering and enabling economic advancements for the Cuban people," Treasury Secretary Jack Lew said in the statement.
According to Mauricio Claver-Carone is the Executive Director of Cuba Democracy Advocates in Washington, D.C., a non-partisan organization dedicated to the promotion of human rights, the rules contradict the administration's policy to help average Cubans and "violate the law."
"This latest round of regulatory changes expressly contradicts the stated purpose of Obama's policy, which was purportedly to "empower the Cuban people" and "promote economic independence." Instead, today's regulations succumb to the Castro regime's insistence that all foreign trade transactions must be funneled through its monopolies. Rather than ratcheting up pressure on the Castro regime to open Cuba's "cuentapropista" ("self-employment") sector, the Obama Administration is now blatantly "empowering" the Castro regime's economic grip," he wrote in a statement.
"Today's regulations are also viscerally against the stated policy and intent of U.S. policy towards Cuba, as codified in law. As such, any transactions pursuant to these new regulations would be subject to legal challenge."
© 2025 Thomson/Reuters. All rights reserved.