US Sanctions BFI, Cuba's Main International Financial Bank

The US government today added another measure against #Cuba by announcing the inclusion of Banco Financiero Internacional to the list of entities and sub-entities on the island with which Americans are prohibited from conducting transactions.

Published 1 January 2021

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The U.S. Treasury Department announced the inclusion of Banco Financiero Internacional S.A. (BFI) on its sanctions list for supposedly "disproportionately" benefiting the Cuban military.

"The BFI is a commercial bank controlled by the Cuban military, which benefits directly from financial transactions at the expense of the Cuban people," alleged U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo in a statement issued Friday.

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According to his statements, these new sanctions imposed on Cuba are part of an escalation of pressure on the Caribbean island, before the outgoing U.S. president, Donald Trump hands over power next January 20 to president-elect Joe Biden.

The text indicates that including BFI on the blacklist of sanctioned Cuban companies "promotes the [Trump] Administration's goal of preventing the Cuban military from controlling and benefiting from financial transactions that should benefit the Cuban people."

I reject new punitive measure of #US State Department to tighten blockade against #Cuba.

The inclusion of Cuban entities in its lists is intended to reinforce an economic siege that has failed to destroy the Cuban Revolution after 62 years.
— Bruno Rodríguez P (@BrunoRguezP) January 1, 2021

The new sanctions have taken place after the Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) of the U.S. Department of the Treasury sanctioned this past December 21 the so-called "large Cuban government company" Grupo de Administración Empresarial S.A. (GAESA) and its subsidiaries, Financiera Cimex S.A. and Kave Coffee, S.A., for their operations in the island.

In fact, since the arrival of Trump to power in 2017, Washington has resumed a policy of systematic pressure and sanctions against the largest of the Antilles, ending the rapprochement brought about by his predecessor Barack Obama from 2009-2017.

Meanwhile, Cuban President Miguel Diaz-Canel denounced that Washington's intention to bring Cuba to its knees, evidences the "hostility" of the U.S. towards the island, stressing that, however, it has been a "resounding failure."