Cuban Foreign Minister Denounces US Actions Against Tourism

The U.S. Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) is investigating Airbnb’s compliance with U.S. sanctions on Cuba and it could face “significant” lawsuits and fines. | Photo: Twitter @CigarAficMag

Published 5 January 2022 

Recently, the digital lodging platform Airbnb paid a fine of 91,000 dollars imposed by the Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) for accepting guests in Cuba and violating sanctions against Cuba.

Cuban Foreign Minister Bruno Rodriguez on Wednesday denounced the actions by the government of the United States to affect the recovery of Cuba's tourism, as part of its strategy of economic asphyxiation.

RELATED:
Cuba's Monetary Overhaul Enters Second Year Amid US Sanctions

Rodriguez wrote on his Twitter account that these measures are intended to hide the fact that, unlike in the United States, in Cuba the income from that sector is used for the people’s benefit.

Recently, the digital lodging platform Airbnb paid a fine of 91,000 dollars imposed by the Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) for accepting guests in Cuba and violating sanctions against Cuba.

According to the government’s entity, the company admitted having received payments from U.S. travelers to Cuba outside the 12 categories authorized by the White House.



In 2015, the company launched its services in Cuba, but the restrictive measures subsequently adopted during the administration of former President Donald Trump (2017-2021) and maintained by the current Biden administration limit the scope of its business.

Former National Security Advisor under President Barack Obama (2009-2017) Ben Rhodes called the fine “stupid, counterproductive and Trumpian” as it denies U.S. citizens the ability to facilitate revenue directly to Cubans and establish connections between the two peoples.