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U.S. hands down more fines for organizations having violated Cuban embargo

Xinhua, January 17, 2017 Adjust font size:

The U.S. government has handed down fines against an American organization and a Canadian bank for violating the Cuban embargo, the island's Ministry of Foreign Affairs (Minrex) stated Monday.

In a statement, Minrex said the U.S. Treasury Department had fined the Alliance for Responsible Cuba Policy Foundation (ARCPF) for coordinating trips by American citizens to Cuba.

According to the U.S. Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC), the ARCPF facilitated trips by two groups to Cuba between August 2010 and September 2011, in open violation to the embargo's norms.

Secondly, Canadian bank Toronto Dominion (TD) was fined 955,750 U.S. dollars, for having carried out transactions with a Cuban company between 2003 and 2011 through the U.S. financial system.

These new sanctions, before the end of the mandate of the current U.S. government, show the persistence of the economic, commercial and financial blockade, and its extraterritorial scope, denounced Minrex.

According to the ministry, since December, 2014 when Havana and Washington announced their intention to reestablish normal diplomatic ties, the U.S. government has fined 11 entities (seven American and four foreign) for a total value of over 2.843 million U.S. dollars.

In order to fully normalize relations, Havana has insisted that the embargo must be lifted, the U.S.-occupied territory in Guantanamo must be returned, illegal transmissions to Cuba must end and actions aiming to subvert the Cuban government must end.

While President Barack Obama has supported lifting the embargo, the Republican-held Congress has refused to do so. Enditem