Articles Tagged with US

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Trump-Signing-Policy-300x214President Donald Trump plans to continue the biannual suspension of the Title III provision of the Helms-Burton Act, sources say. The Act permits the owners of property confiscated in Cuba to sue the Cuban government and foreign governments for using those expropriated holdings.

Since the Helms-Burton Act, formally known as Cuban Liberty and Democratic Solidarity Act, was passed by Congress in 1996, every president has suspended the lawsuit provision in six-month intervals. The ability to waiver the provision was added by President Bill Clinton as a compromise for U.S. allies like Mexico, Canada, and EU countries that feared Title III would open their investments in Cuba to a potential tidal wave of lawsuits in U.S. federal courts by people with prior claims.

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Raul-Castro-300x200Cuban President Raul Castro dismissed President Donald Trump’s harder line on relations with Havana to Cuba’s National Assembly on Friday, calling it a setback.

“Any strategy that seeks to destroy the revolution either through coercion or pressure or through more subtle methods will fail,” said Castro.

This was the first time he has commented on Trump’s June announcement of a rollback of some of the changes established by former President Barack Obama.

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Norwegian-Sky-300x225The wave of tourism brought by the 700 Americans who arrived in Havana by sea in May 2016 is showing no signs of abating more than one year later, even with the new restrictions placed on American travelers to the island by President Donald Trump.

Adonia’s historic voyage from Port Miami to Cuba was the first of its kind in almost 40 years. It marked a big step in the normalization process between Cold War enemies that was started by former President Barack Obama and Cuban President Raúl Castro on December 17, 2014. The embargo imposed by Congress almost 60 years ago is still in place, but the Obama administration relaxed the rules to allow Americans to visit the island if the trip falls under one of 12 categories of travel.

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US-agricultural-representatives-300x194Agriculture officials in Alabama have lobbied to turn Cuba into a market for the state’s poultry products for years, but President Donald Trump’s recent policy change with the island jeopardizes that opening.

Alabama Agriculture Commissioner John McMillan said exports to Cuba, which receives millions of tons of poultry every month from the state, could be impacted by the president’s restrictive policy change.

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cubavisit-300x202Travel companies that organize trips to Cuba for American travelers have reportedly been receiving a lot of questions about President Donald Trump’s new Cuba policy and how the elimination of “people to people” tours to the island and the ban on dealings with military-controlled businesses will affect their travels.

“They say they have been interested in traveling to Cuba and they want to book right now,” Tom Popper, president of InsightCuba, told the Miami Herald. His company organizes tours and plans itineraries for groups traveling to Cuba.

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Cruise-Ship-300x183U.S. business owners with dealings in Cuba were relieved after President Donald Trump outlined his new Cuba policy last week because it might not have a big impact on their ventures. Some have reportedly paused all business with the island until they see how Trump’s changes will be implemented and what new regulations they will require.

Lawyers who help corporations navigate the regulations and laws imposed by the embargo have been going through every detail of the memorandum Trump signed on June 16 as well as a White House fact sheet and the answers to some frequently-asked questions issued by the Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) to get a feel of the new policy. That is all the lawyers have to go on until the new rules are written. Trump mandated that the writing process begin by next month.

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1303-Trump-Cuba-061617-300x214Cuban officials have released an official response to President Donald Trump’s June 16 speech in Miami that reinstated restrictions on travel and banned dealings with businesses owned or controlled by the Cuban military.

The statement noted Trump’s “hostile rhetoric” and said the U.S. was in no position to lecture Cuba on human rights. However, it also confirmed Cuba’s continued willingness to collaborate with the U.S.

“The Government of Cuba reiterates its will to continue a respectful and cooperative dialogue on topics of mutual interest, as well as negotiations of outstanding issues with the US Governement,” the statement said.

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Donald-Trump-at-Bay-of-Pigs-300x200President Donald Trump is to announce a plan on Friday to tighten U.S. policy toward Cuba by adding travel restrictions for Americans traveling to the island and banning U.S. companies from doing business with enterprises controlled by the Cuban military, White House officials said on Thursday.

Trump’s changes are intended to cut off cash flow to the Castro regime by banning business deals with the Armed Forces Business Enterprises Group (GAESA), a government-controlled conglomerate involved in all sectors of the Cuban economy, in an attempt to pressure Cuba’s leaders to allow the island’s private sector to grow. Exceptions will be made for sea and air travel, which means U.S. cruise lines and airlines serving the island won’t be affected by the directive.

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Cuban-Flags-Over-Balcony-300x212With President Donald Trump expected to announce his administration’s revised Cuba Policy in Miami this Friday, those for and against engagement with the island nation are scrambling to let the president—and even his daughter Ivanka—know their position.

The president has received several letters from dissidents, professors concerned that a revised policy could affect educational exchanges, U.S. senators, and various lobby groups and human rights organizations. Some were addressed to Ivanka Trump, including one from a group of over 50 Cuban female entrepreneurs urging her, businesswomen to businesswoman, to make sure the opening created by the previous administration isn’t closed.

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Donald-Trump-300x200President Donald Trump is expected to travel to Miami this Friday to unveil his administration’s revised U.S.-Cuba policy, the Miami Herald reports.

The location of the event has not yet been announced, but Miami has long been an enclave for Cuban exiles. Unveiling the policy changes there suggests that it’ll please the hardline Cuban-Americans whose support helped Trump win the Presidential vote in Florida.

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