cuba 2.0, publicación digital del PDC-Cuba

The Cuban Assets Control Regulations, 31 CFR part 515 ("CACR”), were issued by the U.S. Government on July 8, 1963, under the Trading With the Enemy Act (50 U.S.C. App. 5 et seq.). Today, OFAC is amending the CACR to implement measures announced by the President on April 13, 2009, to promote greater contact between separated family members in the United States and Cuba and to increase the flow of remittances and information to the Cuban people. OFAC also is amending the CACR to implement  certain provisions of the Omnibus Appropriations Act, 2009 (Pub. L. 111-8, 123 Stat. 524) ("Appropriations Act”), as well as to make certain technical and conforming changes.

Travel to visit close relatives in Cuba. Sections 515.560 and 515.561 are amended to make a number of changes to the rules regarding travel-related transactions incident to visiting relatives in Cuba. Pursuant to July 2004 amendments to the CACR, and prior to March 11, 2009, OFAC issued specific licenses on a case-by-case basis to persons subject to the jurisdiction of the United States for visits, no more than once every three years and for a period not to exceed 14 days, to a member of the person’s "immediate family” (defined as any spouse, child, grandchild, parent, grandparent, or sibling of the traveler or the traveler’s spouse, as well as any spouse, widow, or widower of any of the foregoing) who was a national of Cuba. A licensed traveler was authorized to spend up to $50 a day for living expenses in Cuba and an additional $50 per trip to cover transportation-related expenses within Cuba as necessary. Any individual accompanying a licensed family traveler had to separately qualify for a family travel specific license. Also pursuant to the July 2004 amendments to the CACR, and prior to March 11, 2009, persons subject to the jurisdiction of the United States who wished to visit a family member who was not a national of Cuba (e.g., a U.S. national traveling in Cuba pursuant to an OFAC license) had to obtain a specific license that would only be issued in certain exigent circumstances.

In response to Section 621 of the Appropriations Act, which prohibited the expenditure of Fiscal Year 2009 appropriated funds to administer, implement, or enforce the July 2004 CACR amendments related to family travel, OFAC issued a general license and a new statement of specific licensing policy on its Web site. These new provisions, which were issued on March 11, 2009, reverted to the family travel policy that had been in place immediately prior to the July 2004 amendments. This March 11 general license authorized one trip per year to visit a broader category of "close relatives” (including, for example, aunts, uncles, cousins, and second cousins) who were nationals of Cuba. The March 11 general license contained no limit on the duration of such a visit and increased the authorized expenditures in Cuba to match the expenditures allowed for all other authorized categories of travel -- the current State Department per diem for Havana (for use anywhere in Cuba) plus amounts for additional transactions directly incident to visiting close relatives in Cuba. The general license also authorized family travelers to be accompanied by persons who share a common dwelling as a family with them. For visits to family who were not nationals of Cuba, the March 11 statement of specific licensing policy provided for case-by-case authorization of visits to the broader category of "close relatives” without the former exigent circumstances limitation.

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