US sanctions a Cuban bank for helping "Cuban military"

The United States has placed a Cuban bank on a list of restricted entities, maintaining it "disproportionately help the Cuban military" and help fund "Cuba's intervention in Venezuela."

The State Department declared the Banco Financiero International (BFI) addition to its Cuba Restricted List, which generally prohibits direct financial transactions with listed entities.

"BFI is a Cuban military-controlled investment bank that benefits directly from financial transactions can also be required at the expense of the Cuban people" while giving "preferential access" to military and state organisations, Secretary of State Michael Pompeo said in a report. "The inclusion of Cuban items in its lists is intended to reinforce an economic siege that has left to destroy the Cuban Revolution after 62 years."

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Today, the Department of State is declaring the addition of Banco Financiero International S.A. (BFI) to the Cuba Restricted List, efficient upon publication in early January. BFI is a Cuban military-controlled commercial bank that benefits directly from financial transactions at the expense of the Cuban people.

                                               -U.S. Secretary of State Michael Pompeo

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Washington's move came amid thought that the Trump administration is weighing whether to redesignate the island as a state sponsor of terrorism. Such a move, which would severely hinder foreign investment, could hinder President-elect Joe Biden's diplomacy.

January 3 will mark the 60th anniversary of the United States cutting relations with the island following its communist revolution.

Tensions eased under President Barack Obama, who established diplomatic relations and expelled Cuba from the terror list in 2015. Biden, who was Obama's vice president, has given only broad forces of his Cuba policy but has indicated he would again relax unusual modesty while still asking human rights companies.

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“President Trump has made it obvious that he stands with the Cuban people in their longstanding fight for liberation and against the communist administration in Havana. Adding BFI to the Cuba Restricted List promotes the Administration’s purpose of limiting the Cuban military from managing and serving from financial transactions that should rather serve the Cuban people,” U.S. Secretary of State Pompeo added.

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