Remittances to Cuba suspended through the North American company Western Union, the financial services company itself reported in a statement.
"As a global company, we are also required to comply with the laws and regulations set forth in the countries in which we operate. Due to a change in US sanctions regulations, Western Union is forced to indefinitely suspend its money transfer service between the United States and the island, effective immediately," details the note reproduced by the news website. Strong Coffee.
Western Union, which for years has been key in sending remittances to the communist country, explained that it is working with its clients to reimburse the total amount of active transfers in its network. And although it did not announce any date to resume its services, it reiterated that it will continue evaluating alternatives to reestablish its services with Cuba.
The suspension is related to the application of sanctions imposed by the Donald Trump administration on the Cuban regime. This week, the State Department also released the list of entities linked to the Havana dictatorship, with which Washington prohibits financial transactions. This is an updated list that includes new sub-entities of GAESA, the company owned by the island's military.
As a result, Orbit SA, a company created by the regime in February 2020, has been included in the list of sanctioned entities, with the aim of managing and processing international transfers from abroad to the Greater Antilles, and to provide payment services from abroad through its infrastructure.
The dictatorship's company began to officially operate with Western Union in May 2024, allowing the sending of remittances to the Island, which had been interrupted in 2020 after Trump in his first term sanctioned FINCIMEX, an entity managed by the Cuban military conglomerate.
Western Union was unable to reestablish its services with Cuba until January 2023, and the following year due to financial problems and a short interruption it began working in coordination with Orbit SA.
Trump's cabinet has also reactivated Title III of the Helms-Burton Act, which allows US citizens to sue in US courts foreign companies that do business with properties on the island that were confiscated by the Castro regime.
In this context, the opposition platform Pasos de Cambio, which includes around twenty dissident organizations in exile, has given officials from the State Department and members of the US Senate an additional list of military entities, officials, repressors and charter flight agencies for them to review and evaluate sanctioning them for their complicity with the dictatorship.
The report submitted by the Cuban opposition includes high-ranking regime officials in charge of state repression operations, U.S.-based charter flight companies that have likely been evading State Department sanctions for years, and the identity of around 120 former repressors now residing in the land of the free.
"The list, compiled by several Cuban pro-democracy organizations, seeks to hold accountable those responsible for the criminal dynamics that impoverish the Cuban people, as well as for human rights violations and repression in Cuba," they said.
"This list represents a crucial step toward justice and accountability for the Cuban people, as well as the protection of U.S. interests and national security," said Rosa María Payá, founder of the platform. Cuba Decides.
