Press Releases: Department of State Updates the Cuba Restricted List


Media Note

Office of the Spokesperson

Washington, DC
April 24, 2019


The Department of State has updated the Cuba Restricted List with five additional sub-entities owned by the Cuban military. The changes take effect today. The Department will continue to update the list as needed to ensure U.S. funds do not directly support Cuba’s security apparatus. Cuba’s military, security, and intelligence services suppress the human rights of the Cuban people and are deeply entrenched in Venezuela, providing security services to the former regime of Nicolas Maduro and contributing to its oppression of the Venezuelan people.

In accordance with the June 2017 National Security Presidential Memorandum-5, “Strengthening the Policy of the United States Toward Cuba,” the U.S. government generally prohibits direct financial transactions with listed entities and sub-entities because they would disproportionately benefit the Cuban military, intelligence, and security services or personnel, at the expense of the Cuban people or private enterprise in Cuba.

For more information on the regulations prohibiting direct financial transactions with entities and sub-entities on the Cuba Restricted List, please refer to the November 2017 regulatory amendments by the Departments of the Treasury (31 CFR part 515) and Commerce (15 CFR parts 730-774). The Federal Register notice can be found here.

For further information, please contact WHA Press at WHA_Press@state.gov and EB Press at EB-A-PD-DL@state.gov.