US tightens Cuba sanctions, restricting travel and private-sector banking

WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) — The United States (US)  announced Tuesday a tightening of sanctions against Cuba, clamping down on certain financial transactions and travel by US citizens to the Communist island. The sanctions, announced by the Treasury Department's Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC), prohibit indirect financial transactions with sanctioned Cuban entities, particularly those linked to the security apparatus and to Gaesa, the Cuban military's economic conglomerate. OFAC has banned so-called U-Turn transactions, which allowed US banks to process dollar payments related to Cuba provided that the origin and destination were outside the United States and did not involve American citizens. The new regulations remove authorisation for US banks "to open and maintain accounts solely in the name of a Cuban national who is an independent private sector entrepreneur." Access to the US banking system for private entrepreneurs had been authorised during Democrat Joe Biden's 2021-2025 presidency as part of measures aimed at supporting Cuba's nascent private sector. The new regulations also limit categories of travel that were permitted for US citizens under President Barack Obama (2009–2017). Cultural exchange or "people-to-people" trips as well as business conferences and meetings will now require authorisation. Relations between Washington and Havana have worsened since President Donald Trump returned to power in January 2025. The Republican leader says Cuba, located just 150 kilometres (93 miles) from Florida, represents an extraordinary threat to the United States. Since January, Washington has imposed a de facto oil embargo on the island of 9.4 million people, plunging the country into a deep economic and energy crisis.

New regulations limit travel by US citizens to the Communist island and expand restrictions on financial transactions involving Cuban entities.

The US is further restricting travel to Cuba and barring banks from working with the island’s nascent private sector, as Donald Trump’s administration presses to end nearly seven decades of one-party rule in the country.