Salazar and Huizenga Press Biden Administration on “Mipyme Loophole” to Evade Cuba Sanctions

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Reps. María Elvira Salazar (R-FL) and Bill Huizenga (R-MI) sent a letter to Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen demanding an explanation of how President Biden’s plans to ease financial sanctions on the Cuban regime are consistent with current U.S. law. Reps. Carlos A. Giménez (R-FL) and Blaine Luetkemeyer (R-MO) also joined on the letter.

To circumvent U.S. sanctions, the Biden Administration is using the “Mipyme Loophole,” funneling money to small businesses on the Island who, in many cases, are connected to the Cuban regime. An example of this is MadWoman, a Mipyme (small- and medium-size businesses, in Spanish) contracted by the U.S. Embassy in Havana who fired an employee for criticizing the communist government on his personal social media.

The U.S. government should not be funding small businesses that suppress free speech and are controlled by the Cuban Regime.

“Despite the Cuban regime’s longstanding record of undermining U.S. national security and aligning with foreign adversaries such as Iran, China, and Russia, the Biden Administration has taken numerous steps to reopen relations with Cuba’s authoritarian regime since taking office,” Reps. Salazar and Huizenga wrote. “Any efforts to diminish or circumvent the current embargo on Cuba are in contravention of U.S. law and play into the hands of our foreign adversaries, Russia and China, who are closely aligned with Cuba.”

In January 2024, Chairwoman Salazar convened a hearing to examine the Cuban regime’s propaganda around a new, burgeoning “private sector” and the Biden Administration’s blind willingness to embrace it. The hearing was a reaction to the Administration’s plans to open the U.S. banking system to Cuban entrepreneurs with small- and medium-size businesses (Mipymes, in Spanish). President Biden’s plans to ease restrictions on Cubans accessing the U.S. financial system may sound good in theory, but in reality contradicts everything we know about the Cuban regime.

One major concern the Chairwoman exposed during the hearing was the inability of the Biden Administration to adequately explain how they can divert U.S. dollars away from the regime and towards the “independent business owners.” Given the regime controls all aspects of economic and political life on the Island, there is no way to ensure the federal government is not propping up the regime, violating U.S. law established by Congress, and making our enemies abroad stronger.

For the full text of the letter, click here.

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