HeinOnline is a subscription-based resource containing thousands of academic and legal journals from inception; complete coverage of government documents such as U.S. Statutes at Large, U.S. Code, Federal Register, Code of Federal Regulations, U.S. Reports, and much more. Documents are image-based, fully searchable PDFs with the authority of print combined with the accessibility of a user-friendly and powerful database. For more information, request a quote or trial for your organization below.
![handle is hein.crs/govyyo0001 and id is 1 raw text is:
Congressional Research Service
Informing the legislative debate since 1914
Updated April 3, 2019
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 government. In December 2014, however, the
Obama Administration initiated a major policy shift,
moving away from sanctions toward engagement and the
normalization of relations. The policy change included the
rescission of Cuba's designation as a state sponsor of
international terrorism in May 2015; the restoration of
diplomatic relations in July 2015; and efforts to increase
travel, commerce, and the flow of information to Cuba.
President Trump unveiled a new policy toward Cuba in
2017 introducing new sanctions and partially rolling back
some of the Obama Administration's efforts to normalize
relations. On March 4, 2019, the Administration ratcheted
up its economic pressure on Cuba by allowing some
lawsuits to go forward against over 200 Cuba entities
operated by the Cuban military, intelligence, or security
services for trafficking in confiscated property.
Cuban Political Developments. First Vice President
Miguel Dfaz-Canel succeeded Radl Castro as president in
April 2018, but Castro continues to head the Cuban
Communist Party until 2021. The selection of Dfaz-Canel,
now 58 years old, reflects 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 not in
charge of the government.
Rafil Castro (2006-2018) began the implementation of
significant economic policy changes, moving toward a
more mixed economy with a stronger private sector. His
government's slow, gradualist approach, however, did not
produce major improvements to the Cuban economy, which
has experienced minimal growth in recent years.
In December 2018, President Dfaz-Canel backtracked on
implementing regulations that likely would have shrunk the
private sector and slowed implementation of a controversial
decree regulating artistic expression, actions that appeared
to demonstrate his responsiveness to public criticism and
his independence from the previous government. Dfaz-
Canel continues to faces two significant challenges-
moving forward with economic reforms that produce results
and responding to citizens' desires for greater freedom.
On February 24, 2019, almost 87% of Cubans approved a
new constitution in a national referendum. Among the
changes are the addition of an appointed prime minister to
oversee government operations; age and term limits on the
president; and some market-oriented economic reforms,
including the right to private property and the promotion of
foreign investment. However, the new constitution ensures
the state sector's dominance over the economy and the
predominant role of the Communist Party.
Government-to-Government Engagement. With the
restoration of relations in 2015, government-to-government
engagement increased significantly. U.S. and Cuban
officials have held seven Bilateral Commission meetings,
the most recent in June 2018, to coordinate efforts to
advance engagement. Officials have negotiated numerous
bilateral agreements, including on such issues as
environmental cooperation, direct mail, civil aviation,
maritime navigation, agriculture, health cooperation,
counternarcotics cooperation, federal air marshals, cancer
research, seismology, meteorology, wildlife conservation,
animal and plant health, oil-spill preparedness and
response, law enforcement cooperation, search and rescue,
and the delimitation of the U.S.-Cuban maritime boundary
in the eastern Gulf of Mexico. Bilateral dialogues have been
held on these and other issues, including counterterrorism,
U.S. property claims, human rights, renewable energy and
efficiency, trafficking in persons, migration, and
cybersecurity.
Travel and Commerce. The Obama Administration's
policy change of increasing travel and commerce with Cuba
required amendments to U.S. regulations administered by
the Department of the Treasury, Office of Foreign Assets
Control (Cuban Assets Control Regulations [CACR]; 31
C.F.R. Part 515) and the Department of Commerce, Bureau
of Industry and Security (Export Administration
Regulations [EAR]; 15 C.F.R. Parts 730-774). To
implement the policy, the two agencies issued five rounds
of amendments to the regulations in 2015-2016 that eased
restrictions on travel, remittances, trade,
telecommunications, and banking and financial services.
Trump Administration Sanctions. President Trump
issued a national security presidential memorandum on
Cuba in June 2017 that introduced new sanctions. These
sanctions include restrictions on transactions with
companies controlled by the Cuban military and the
elimination of people-to-people educational travel for
individuals.
To implement these changes, the Treasury and Commerce
Departments amended the CACR and EAR in November
2017. The regulations now require people-to-people travel
to be under the auspices of an organization specializing in
such travel and prohibit financial transactions with entities
controlled by the Cuban military, intelligence, or security
services, but with several exceptions.
The State Department issued a list of restricted entities in
November 2017, which was updated in November 2018 and
March 2019. Currently, the Cuba Restricted List includes](ViewImageLocal?handle=hein.crs/govyyo0001&div=1&collection=&method=preview&ext=.png&size=3)