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Cubans lose access to vital dollar remittances after latest US sanctions
Source: The Guardian
Cubans lose access to vital dollar remittances after latest US sanctions
Cuba closes Western Union offices after US blacklists a military-controlled firm that processes payments from Cubans abroad
Ed Augustin in Havana
Sun 1 Nov 2020 11.00 GMT
Dayane Medina, a 30-year old mother, had been due to pick up the equivalent of $65 that her grandmother in Jacksonville, Florida, sent her this week.
“I don’t like asking her for money – she is too generous,” she blushed, confessing that her grandmother sometimes sells food stamps to raise money. “But I’m not working at the moment and my husband is a doctor – we can’t get by on his [$62 a month] salary.”
But Dayane, her husband and their two young children may be forced to find a way.
This week, Cuba announced the closure of more than 400 Western Union offices on the island, a move that will eliminate most remittances and aggravate the country’s profound economic crisis.
The decision was a reaction to new US sanctions: in June the Trump administration blacklisted Fincimex, a military-controlled firm that processes remittances for Western Union. Last week, the treasury department banned US companies from dealing with Fincimex altogether.
-snip-
Cuba closes Western Union offices after US blacklists a military-controlled firm that processes payments from Cubans abroad
Ed Augustin in Havana
Sun 1 Nov 2020 11.00 GMT
Dayane Medina, a 30-year old mother, had been due to pick up the equivalent of $65 that her grandmother in Jacksonville, Florida, sent her this week.
“I don’t like asking her for money – she is too generous,” she blushed, confessing that her grandmother sometimes sells food stamps to raise money. “But I’m not working at the moment and my husband is a doctor – we can’t get by on his [$62 a month] salary.”
But Dayane, her husband and their two young children may be forced to find a way.
This week, Cuba announced the closure of more than 400 Western Union offices on the island, a move that will eliminate most remittances and aggravate the country’s profound economic crisis.
The decision was a reaction to new US sanctions: in June the Trump administration blacklisted Fincimex, a military-controlled firm that processes remittances for Western Union. Last week, the treasury department banned US companies from dealing with Fincimex altogether.
-snip-
Read more: https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/nov/01/cuba-remittances-us-sanctions-western-union
