Lawmakers React to Canceled Cuba Sanctions
Lawmakers voiced their reactions on Jan. 26 to the Office of Foreign Assets Control’s announcement the same day that implemented the rollback of sanctions on Cuba, as the Obama Administration continues its push to normalize relations with Havana. Presidential candidate Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., accused the Administration of working to empower Cuban government-run businesses rather than the Cuban citizenry. “The Obama Administration's one-sided concessions to Cuba further empower the regime and enable it with an economic windfall,” Rubio said in a statement (here). “These regulations are more proof that the Obama Administration's intent has never been to empower the Cuban people but rather to empower the Cuban government's monopolies and state-run enterprises.”
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Effective Jan. 27, the rule lifts certain payment and financing restrictions for approved exports and re-exports of non-agricultural items to Cuba, and authorizes the use of leasing arrangements, code-sharing, and blocked airspace by Cuban airlines to facilitate U.S. travel to the country (see 1601260015). The actions align with President Barack Obama’s Dec. 17, 2014 announcement of the rollback of sanctions on the country.
Rep. Rosa DeLauro, D-Conn., said OFAC’s moves are working toward supporting the Cuban people, in part, by allowing more exports of educational, agricultural, mass transit, and disaster preparedness materials from the U.S. to Cuba. But she also called on Congress to stamp the administration’s reforms into permanent law by lifting the Cuban embargo. “While the new regulations are a positive step, they may not be permanent,” DeLauro said in a statement (here). “American and Cuban businesses need the security of knowing that the new Cuba policy is stable and secure in law. Congress should immediately lift the embargo on Cuba so that the U.S. can participate constructively in a peaceful transition to democracy and a market-oriented economy on the island.”
In a Jan. 26 statement touting the diplomatic actions (here), National Security Council spokesman Ned Price nudged the Cuban government to better enable its people to engage in open commerce. "Just as the United States is doing its part to remove impediments that have been holding Cubans back, we urge the Cuban government to make it easier for its citizens to start businesses, engage in trade, and access information online," he said.