National security adviser John Bolton announced on Wednesday that the United States will limit travel and remittances to Cuba, a measure that reverses the opening policy of the previous government.
These new measures will help to take American dollars away from the Cuban regime,”
said Bolton.
A few hours before, the Donald Trump administration announced in Washington that it will activate a rule that allows US courts to sue foreign companies present in Cuba that manage assets confiscated from Cubans by the revolution.
There are no official figures, but it is estimated that remittances are the second source of income for the island, behind the export of medical services. According to the Havana Consulting Group, 70% of Cubans receive remittances.
The trips of US citizens to Cuba that were not intended to visit relatives were prohibited before the previous president, Barack Obama, thawed relations with Havana in December 2014.
As a result of that opening, the United States allowed its citizens to travel to the island within 12 categories, such as cultural or professional contacts, which in practice were euphemisms for tourist visits.
This measure opened a range of offers of cruises and airlines to Cuba for the first time in more than half a century.