US tightens financial sanctions and travel restrictions on Cuba

The United States on Tuesday tightened its sanctions against Cuba through restrictions on financial transactions and a reduction in travel permits for US citizens, according to listindiario.com. The Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC), part of the Treasury Department, prohibited indirect financial transactions with sanctioned Cuban entities, especially those linked to the security apparatus and to Gaesa, the economic conglomerate of the Cuban military.

These measures also eliminate the authorization of so-called "U-Turn" transactions, which since 2024 had allowed US banks to process dollar payments related to Cuba under certain external conditions. Likewise, the new rules remove the permission for US banking entities to maintain accounts in the names of independent entrepreneurs in Cuba's private sector, an access that had been opened in 2024 during the administration of Joe Biden to support the island's new economic actors.

In parallel, the regulations limit travel categories that have been authorized since the era of Barack Obama, requiring specific permits for conferences, business meetings and person-to-person cultural exchanges. According to Infobae America, these restrictions add to the pressure on the Cuban economy and affect regulatory changes that the island's government had recently approved.

Bilateral tensions have increased since Donald Trump's return to the US presidency. Washington maintains a de facto oil blockade on the island, which has a population of 9.4 million according to the figures in the listindiario.com report, compounding the energy and financial difficulties facing the Caribbean territory.