NOTICIAS

En el 2017, el Departamento de Estado de EE.UU. publicó la Lista de Entidades Restringidas de Cuba para prohibir transacciones con entidades afiliadas al Ministerio del Interior (MININT) y/o al Ministerio de las Fuerzas Armadas Revolucionarias (MINFAR). Tanto el MININT como el MINFAR, son responsables de innumerables abusos de DD.HH. contra el pueblo cubano. La lista no se actualiza desde el 2021 y tanto el dictador Díaz-Canel como los integrantes del ejército cubano han aprovechado la situación para crear nuevas entidades para eludir ilegalmente las sanciones existentes y realizar transacciones con industrias privadas de EE.UU. 

El senador estadounidense Marco Rubio (R-FL) le envió una carta al secretario de Estado de EE.UU., Antony Blinken, instándolo a actualizar y agregar nuevas entidades afiliadas al MININT y MINFAR en la lista. 

• “No hay ninguna razón para que los estadounidenses sean cómplices de las actuales violaciones de DD.HH. contra el pueblo cubano. Le insto a que actualice de inmediato la Lista de Entidades y Subentidades restringidas asociadas con Cuba para contabilizar los nuevos hoteles e instalaciones abiertas desde enero del 2021 y cerrar esta evidente brecha en la política de sanciones de EE.UU. hacia el régimen comunista en Cuba”.

En un futuro próximo… En febrero del 2024, la cantante Norah Jones planea realizar una “visita educativa” a Cuba y llevará a un grupo de compatriotas norteamericanos a La Habana. Se hospedarán en el Grand Aston Hotel, el cual es propiedad del régimen cubano y se salta la Lista de Entidades Restringidas pues su fecha de apertura fue en el 2022. 

El full text of the letter . 

Dear Secretary Blinken: 

As you know, the people of Cuba live under one of the most oppressive governments in the world. Two entities, the Ministry of the Interior (MININT) and the Ministry of the Revolutionary Armed Forces (MINFAR) are the strong hands of the authoritarian regime that arbitrarily detain, inhumanely torture, and extrajudicially execute dozens of the regime’s perceived political opponents every year. Moreover, of the hundreds of the peaceful protesters detained by the regime since the historic protests of July 11, 2011, more than 45 are children under the age of 17. In order to finance this extensive apparatus of nationwide oppression, both MININT and MINFAR operate hotels, tourism agencies, marinas, stores and financial institutions. 

The U.S. Department of State published the Cuban Restricted Entities List in 2017 to prohibit U.S. persons from engaging in transactions with MININT, MINFAR, and their affiliated companies. Unfortunately, since January 2021 when the list was last updated, MININT and MINFAR have established dozens of new hotels and companies that fall outside the scope of the Cuban Restricted Entity List. For example, Grupo de Turismo Gaviota, a hotel holding company owned by MINFAR, opened the Hotel Grand Aston in Havana in March 2022. Because Hotel Grand Aston is not included on the Restricted Entities List, it is possible for people, like Norah Jones, to organize so-called “educational visits” for American tourists to pay considerable sums of money to Gaviota and thereby fund the ongoing repression, the detention and the torture of Cuban children and political prisoners. 

There is no reason for Americans to be complicit in the ongoing human rights violations against the Cuban people. I urge you to immediately update the List of Restricted Entities and Subentities Associated with Cuba in order to account for new hotels and facilities opened since January 2021 and close this glaring gap in our nation’s sanctions policy on the communist regime in Cuba. 

Thank you for your attention to this matter. 

Atentamente,