President of Cuba, Miguel Díaz-Canel, reaffirmed his country’s rejection of embargoes placed by the United States government on the Caribbean country, following new punitive measures implemented by the Treasury Department against the island’s enterprises.

The president tweeted reiterating the will to resist the hostility of the current US administration, whom he described as a failed government.

“Cuba will succeed regardless of the spurious lists of the US. The hostility of a failed government does not cease. Always firm,” tweeted Díaz-Canel.

The US Secretary of State, Mike Pompeo, reported last Monday that the Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) included on its ‘blacklist’ the Cuban entities Gaesa, Fincimex and Kave Coffee SA, as well as three Nicaraguan citizens.

Pompeo justified this action by saying that economic practices that ‘disproportionately benefit’ governments such as Cuba’s and Nicaragua’s must be curtailed.

Since coming to power in 2017, President Trump has made it clear that he has no intention of abiding by the bilateral rapprochement began by his predecessor Barack Obama and would be stepping up the economic, financial and commercial blockade against Cuba.

The extraterritorial application of said hostile policy worsened between 2019 and 2020, a period in which the OFAC imposed 12 penalties on US and third-country entities that  participated in transactions that exceeded US$ 2,403,985,125 

Earlier this week, the US Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) identified three entities controlled by the Cuban military with strategic roles in the Cuban economy. Two of the entities, Financiera Cimex S.A. and Kave Coffee, S.A., are subsidiaries of the third entity, the large Cuban government enterprise Grupo de Administración Empresarial S.A., and use their Panamanian incorporation to subvert international trade restrictions.

“The Trump administration remains committed to targeting the Cuban regime for its malign behaviour and attempts to circumvent United States sanctions,” said Secretary Steven T. Mnuchin.

The following entities are being identified on the List of Specially Designated Nationals and Blocked Persons by OFAC pursuant to the Cuban Assets Control Regulations (CACR), 31 C.F.R. part 515.

GRUPO DE ADMINISTRACIÓN EMPRESARIAL S.A.

Grupo de Administración Empresarial S.A. (GAESA) is a Cuban military-controlled umbrella enterprise with interests in the tourism, financial investment, import/export, and remittance sectors of Cuba’s economy. GAESA’s portfolio includes businesses incorporated in Panama to bypass CACR-related restrictions.

FINANCIERA CIMEX S.A.

Financiera Cimex S.A. (FINCIMEX) is a financial investment and remittance company owned by GAESA and incorporated in Panama. FINCIMEX is authorized by the Central Bank of Cuba to finance export operations, conduct financial leasing operations, and handle commercial distribution of remittance cards.

KAVE COFFEE, S.A.

Kave Coffee, S.A. (Kave) is a coffee company domiciled in Havana, Cuba, and incorporated in Panama. Kave is an indirect subsidiary of GAESA and serves as a leading commodity company based around the nationalized “Cubita” coffee brand.

GAESA and FINCIMEX are also listed on the State Department’s List of Restricted Entities and Subentities Associated with Cuba (“Cuba Restricted List” or “CRL”).  The CRL is a list of entities and subentities under the control of, or acting for or on behalf of, the Cuban military, intelligence, or security services or personnel with which direct financial transactions would disproportionately benefit such services or personnel at the expense of the Cuban people or private enterprise in Cuba.

In October of this year, the OFAC restricted certain remittance-related transactions to and from Cuba. This now makes sending money to Cuba even more difficult. This became effective on November 26, 2020.

The Cuban Assets Control Regulations (CACR) aims to decrease travel, trade and transactions with Cuba.