Bush signed the Cuba Democracy Act (also known as Torricelli Act) in 1992, which declares that “the President should encourage countries that conduct trade with Cuba to restrict their trade and credit relations with Cuba.” It also stipulates that the American government does not “authorize any transaction between a U.S.-owned or -controlled firm in a third country and Cuba.” That means foreign subsidiaries of US companies are not allowed to “export from a third country to Cuba foreign-manufactured items.” This act also authorizes the American president to impose sanctions against “countries that provide assistance to Cuba.” Moreover, the Cuba Democracy Act also prohibits: In response to this approach to tightening the embargo, which was intended to block “the Cuban external financial flow of funds, the Central Bank of Cuba issued the Resolution 80 from October 23, 2004, aiming to discourage the USD cash entrance to the bank and financial system of Cuba.” Later that same year, Fidel Castro announced that US dollars would no longer circulate in Cuba. The following year, on October 9, 2019, the Trump administration decided that “banking institutions subject to U.S. jurisdiction are not permitted to process ‘U-turn’ transactions, i.e., funds transfers originating and terminating outside the United States, where neither the originator nor the beneficiary is a person subject to U.S. jurisdiction.” That means the U.S. did not allow transactions with Cuba even if the transfer was initiated by a non-Cuban bank and passed through the US system (the U-turn) on the way to another non-Cuban bank.
Author: Dr. Birsen Filip
Published at: 2026-01-20 21:54:08
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