Cuban Foreign Minister Bruno Rodríguez denounced today the actions of the United States Government aimed at affecting the recovery of tourism on the island, as part of its strategy of economic suffocation.
Rodíguez wrote on his Twitter account that these measures are intended to hide the fact that, unlike the United States, in Cuba the income from that sector is used for the benefit of the people.
Recently, the digital accommodation platform Airbnb paid a fine of 91 thousand dollars imposed by the Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC), for accepting guests in Cuba and violating the sanctions on the island.
According to the government entity, the tourist company accepted payments from North Americans who traveled to the Caribbean country outside of the 12 categories authorized by the White House.
Since 2015 the company launched its services in Cuba, but the restrictive measures subsequently adopted during the term of then President Donald Trump (2017-2021) and maintained under the current Joe Biden administration, limit the scope of its business.
Former National Security Advisor to President Barack Obama (2009-2017) Ben Rhodes called the fine “stupid, counterproductive and Trumpian” for denying Americans the ability to directly provide income to Cubans and establish connections between the two peoples.
