The Trump administration is adding the Cuban Bank to the United States’ shortlist

The United States has added a Cuban bank to the list of limited entities, arguing that the financial institution has links to the Cuban army and that its profits help finance the country’s “intervention” in Venezuela.

In a statement on Friday, the US State Department said it would add Banco Financiero International SA (BFI) to Cuba’s shortlist, which is a list of entities that the US claims have ties to the military and intelligence services. Or Cuban security.

Any person subject to US jurisdiction is prohibited from engaging in financial transactions with listed institutions.

“The addition of our country’s food industries to the Cuban list contributes to the administration’s goal of preventing the Cuban military from taking control and benefiting from financial transactions that should benefit the Cuban people instead,” said Mike Pompeo in the statement.

Cuban Foreign Minister Bruno Rodriguez rejected the declaration, and tweeted on Friday that it was “a punitive measure by the US State Department to tighten the blockade on Cuba.”

“The inclusion of Cuban entities in their lists aims to reinforce the economic blockade that has failed to destroy the Cuban Revolution after 62 years,” Rodriguez wrote.

I reject the new punitive measure #we The Foreign Ministry will tighten the blockade against # Cuba.

The inclusion of Cuban entities on its lists aims to reinforce the economic blockade that has failed to destroy the Cuban Revolution after 62 years.

Bruno Rodríguez P (BrunoRguezP) January 1, 2021

The move comes after US media reported that the outgoing President Donald Trump’s administration was considering designating Cuba as a state sponsor of terrorism in its final days in power.

The New York Times said the State Department had drafted a proposal, but he was not sure Pompeo would agree to it.

US Congressman Gregory Meeks, the new chair of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, has warned Pompeo against designating terrorism, saying his goal is to “tie the hands” of the newly elected US president. Joe Biden.

“It is clearly going to be another coup by President Trump and Pompeo,” Mix said.

A Foreign Ministry spokesman declined to comment on “possible deliberations regarding the classification.”

Biden Policy Changes

Bloomberg reported earlier this month that Biden, who is expected to open on January 20, is planning to bring Washington closer to normalizing ties with Havana.

This includes easing restrictions on travel, investments and transfers, as well as the lifting of many other sanctions and regulations imposed by the Trump administration, Bloomberg said, citing people familiar with the discussions.

Biden was Vice President when the United States and Cuba decided to restore diplomatic relations.

President Barack Obama said in December 2014, when he announced the resolution: “Today the United States is changing its relationship with the Cuban people.”

We will begin to normalize relations between our two countries. With these changes, we intend to create more opportunities for the American and Cuban people and open a new chapter.

Then Obama visited Cuba in 2016, the first such visit by a ruling U.S. leader in nearly 90 years.