U.S. official says Biden policy on Cuba remittances needs revisions

After receiving recommendations for resuming remittances to Cuba, the White House has some sent some of them back to produce “innovative options” to make sure that money sent by Cuban Americans to island residents does not end up with the Cuban government, a senior U.S. official told Reuters on Friday.

In July, President Joe Biden asked the U.S. Treasury and State department to come up with ways to permit remittance payments – which used to be financial lifelines for many Cubans – while making sure Cuba’s government and military don’t benefit.

When Havana cracked down on protesters in July, the Biden administration responded by slapping sanctions on Cuban officials and security forces.

Former President Donald Trump had imposed strict limits on remittances, which undid the work of the Obama administration. In 2019, the U.S. lifted restrictions on family travel and money transfers to Cuba. In addition, U.S. telecommunications companies were allowed to provide more cellular and satellite service.

During the 2020 election campaign against Trump, Biden – who served as Obama’s vice president – vowed to re-engage with Cuba’s communist government.

The Biden administration is fully aware that Cuban Americans would oppose any lessening of sanctions on Cuba. Even though Trump lost the presidential election to Biden, he won Florida thanks to the support of Cuban Americans, who mostly supported the former president’s strict policies toward Cuba.

Since the Cuban protests in July amid a severe economic crisis, repression against activists and a surge in Covid-19 cases, relations between the U.S. and the island nation have remained tense. Last summer, thousands of Cubans spontaneously took to the streets in July to demand freedom and political change in a series of highly energized protests that resulted in one death, hundreds of arrests and prison sentences.

"We have received the recommendations of the State Department-Treasury Remittance Working Group," the senior Biden administration official told Reuters -- among other news outlets -- without honoring requests for details on those ideas.

"We've sent some of those back because ... what the president has said publicly is that we are willing to restart remittance flows but want to ensure that ... the Cuban military is not deriving benefit," the official added. "We are exploring new and innovative options to try to circumvent the regime."

Speaking on condition of anonymity, the official said Biden has instructed the departments that are reviewing Cuba policy to develop a "third way" that is "tough on the regime and soft on the Cuban people."

The official added that the Biden administration in conferring Democrats, Republicans and the Cuban exile community but declined to say when remittance changes might be revealed.