US announces measures to help small Cuban businesses

The U.S. Treasury Department on Tuesday announced a series of regulatory changes to allow more U.S. financial aid to small private businesses in Cuba, improve Internet-based services on the island and expand Cubans’ access to some financial services.

The U.S. will allow small business owners on the communist island to open bank accounts in the U.S. and restore authorization for so-called “U-turn transactions” that originate and terminate outside the U.S., the Treasury said. Report, all activities to facilitate payments and financing to Cuban merchants.

The measures will allow Cuban merchants to use U.S.-based online payment platforms, a major barrier currently facing small businesses on the island.

“Today we are taking an important step to support the expansion of free enterprise and the expansion of the commercial sector in Cuba,” a senior US official told reporters on Tuesday.

The measures seek to fulfill the Biden administration’s long-delayed promise to ease restrictions to help Cuba’s burgeoning entrepreneurs deal with the fallout from the communist island’s crippled economy.

In designing the measures, U.S. officials, who briefed reporters on condition of anonymity, said they struggled to balance that goal with a desire to avoid benefits for Cuban officials.

“Providing this support to Cuba’s private sector will help prevent irregular migration from the island and create more economic opportunities on the island. Additionally, it allows Cubans to become self-sufficient without relying on the government for all of their daily needs,” officials said. said.