The authorities of Hialeah They launched an offensive against private businesses with commercial ties with Cuba to determine if they maintain a relationship with the island’s authorities.
In total, there are around 290 businesses that will be investigated and whose licenses could be suspended or revoked if it is proven that they violate federal or state regulations.
The announcement was made this week by new Mayor Bryan Calvo, who just assumed leadership of that city. Calvo, a 28-year-old Cuban-American, is a supporter of the hard line against the Cuban Government and on his first day in office he created an advisory team that will be in charge of the investigation, according to local media reports.
The team, named Cuba Business Advisory Group (CUBAT), is made up of municipal officials and well-known figures from South Florida, such as influencer Alexander Otaola, who will have a leading role in the group.
CUBAT will have the mission of auditing the contracts and commercial licenses of Hialeah businesses with alleged links to the island’s Government, which will begin to be notified of the investigation.
Restrictions on Miami companies: offensive against businesses related to Cuba
The investigative process
When announcing the beginning of the investigative process, the mayor of Hialeah confirmed that the city’s Business License Department had identified some 290 companies that had declared some type of relationship with Cuba and could have ties to the Government.
Even so, he said that this does not necessarily mean that these businesses are violating the provisions, which is why they will be investigated as “potential cases.”
Although the names of the companies investigated have not been made public, press reports indicate that the majority are dedicated to sending packages to Cuba.
After being identified and notified, businesses must present documentation and permits that prove the legal nature of their operations and undergo verification by auditors. They could even be examined by the Hialeah Police Economic Crimes Unit.
According to Univision Miamithe investigation could take about six months and, as part of the process, the companies investigated “will have the opportunity to defend themselves before the City Council and there it will be defined whether or not they will continue with the operating license.”
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Not just Hialeah
The investigation and actions against businesses with alleged relations with the Cuban authorities will not remain only in Hialeah, but is part of an offensive in this direction already underway in South Florida.
Other municipalities such as Doral, Coral Gables and Miami have also joined or plan to join these types of measures, also extended to the Chavista Government of Venezuela.
Furthermore, all of this joins the investigation carried out in the final months of last year by the Miami-Dade County tax collector, Dariel Fernández, which finally led to the license revocation of 20 businesses.
This process initially covered 75 companies, of which a majority group presented sufficient documentation or demonstrated that they did not maintain commercial relations with the island.
Others, however, did not respond and 20 of them were revoked. The majority are travel agencies, shipping companies and logistics firms with operations in several cities in the region.
The campaign by Miami authorities against companies with alleged links to Havana occurs at a time when Washington redoubles pressure against Cuba as part of the Trump Administration’s tough policy towards the island and the change in the regional scenario after the US attack on Venezuela and the capture of Nicolás Maduro.
