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1 1 (November 20, 2020)

handle is hein.crs/govdcqq0001 and id is 1 raw text is: K. Updated November 20,2020 Cuba: U.S. Policy Overview Since the early 1960s, when the United States imposed a trade embargo on Cuba, the centerpiece of U.S. policy toward Cuba has consisted of economic sanctions aimed at isolating the Cuban government. In 2014, the Obama Administration initiated a policy shift away from sanctions and toward engagement and the normalization ofrelations. Changes included the rescission of Cuba's designation as a state sponsor of international terrorism(May 2015); the restorationof diplomatic relations (July 2015); and an easing ofrestrictions on travel, remittances, trade, telecommunications, and banking and financialservices (2015 and 2016), accomplished through amendments to the Cuban Assets Control Regulations (CACR), administered by the Treasury Department, and the Export Administration Regulations, administered by the Commerce Department. The restoration of relations led to increased government-to-government engagement, with over 20 bilateral agreements and numerous dialogues. President Trump unveiled a new policy toward Cubain 2017, introducingnew sanctions and rolling backefforts to normalize relations. By 2019, the Administration had largely abandoned engagement and had increased s anctions to pres sure the Cuban government onhumanrights and for its support of the Venezuelan governmentof Nicolds Maduro. In 2020, the Administration has ratcheted up restrictions ontravel and remittances. In October, it announced new sanctions onremittances, effective November 26, which resulted in Western Union announcing it would stop forwarding remittances to Cuba on November 22 (see below). Cuban Political and Economic Developments. In April 2018, MiguelDiaz-Canel, who was serving as first vice president, succeeded RadlCastro as president. Castro continues to head the Cuban Communist Party until 2021. The selection of Diaz-Canel, now 60 years old, reflected the generational change in Cuban leadership that began several years ago and marks the first time since the 1959 Cuban revolution that a Castro is notin charge of the government. While in power from2006 to 2018, Raid Castro began to implement significanteconomic policy changes, moving toward a more mixed economy with a s tronger private sector, buthis government's slow, gradualist approach did not produce major economic improvements. In 2019, Cuba adopted anew constitution with such changes as an appointedprime minister to oversee government operations; limits on the president's tenure (two five-year terms) and age (60, beginning first term); and market-oriented economic reforms, including the right to private property and foreign investment promotion. The new constitution also ensuredthe state's dominance over the economy and the CommunistParty's predominantrole. The Cuban economy is being hard-hit by Venezuela's economic cris is, which has reduced Venezuela's support for Cuba; increased U.S. economic s anctions, which have hurt Cuba's nascentprivate s ector; and the economic decline associated with the Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. The Economist Intelligence Unit forecast an 8.3% economic contraction in 2020. Cuba's public health response to the pandemic appears to have beeneffective. As ofNovember20,2020, the country reported 131 deaths, with a mortality rate of 1.16 per 100,000 people (among the lowest rates in the hemisphere), according to Johns Hopkins University. Cuba has provided international as sistance for pandemic response by sending over 3,700 medicalprofessionalsto almost40countries. Trump Administration Sanctions. President Trump issued a nationalsecurity presidential memorandumin June 2017 that introduced new sanctions, including restrictions on trans actions with companies controlled by the Cuban military. The State Department is sued a list of restricted entities in 2017, which has beenupdated severaltimes, most recently in September 2020. The Cuba restricted list includes 230entities andsubentities,including 2ministries, 5 holding companies and 54 of their subentities, 111 hotels, 2 tourist agencies, 5 marinas, 10 stores in Old Havana, and 41 entities serving defense and security sectors. Since 2019, the Administrationhas imposed increasingly strong sanctions. In addition to those notedbelow, it has increasedeffortsto highlightallegations ofcoercivelabor practices in Cuba's foreign medical mis s ions, a major foreign exchange earner for Cub a. In May 2020, the State Department (pursuant to Section40A of the Arms Export Control Act) added Cuba to its annual list of countries certified as n ot cooperatingfully with U.S. antiterrorism efforts for the first time since 2015. Efforts to Stop Venezuelan Oil Exports to Cuba. Since April2019, the Treasury Department has imposed sanctions onseveralshipping companies and vessels that transported Venezuelan oilto Cuba. In July 2019, it sanctioned Cuba's state-run oil import/export company. Lawsuits Related to ConfiscatedProperty. Effective May 2, 2019, the Administration allowed the right to file lawsuits against those trafficking in confiscated property in Cuba pursuant to Title III of the Cuban Liberty and Democratic Solidarity (LIBERTAD) Act of 1996 (P.L. 104-114). Lawsuits can be brought by any U.S. national, including those who were not U.S. nationals at the time of the confiscation. Previous Administrations had suspended, at six-month intervals, the right to file such lawsuits. The European Union and Canada criticized the Trump Administration's action, vowingto ban enforcement or recognitionof any judgement and allow counterclaims. To date, 29 lawsuits have been filed against U.S. and foreign companies, including cruis e ship operators, airlines, travelbooking companies, and hotels; several lawsuits have been dismis sed.

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