The company Financiera Cimex SA (Fincimex) reiterated this Friday that the sending of remittances from the United States to Cuba through Western Union will be interrupted as a result of the sanctions imposed by Washington on the Cuban entity, although its offices continue to provide service in the island.
“Through different channels, the United States is trying to establish an atmosphere of opinion consistent in that remittances would not be interrupted if Cuba accepted the imposition of the U.S. government to establish a payment network in Cuba different from the current network. Once again, they are lying!” Fincimex posted on Twitter.
#Fincimex #Denuncia pic.twitter.com/snq2IlVA37
— Corporación CIMEX S.A (@cimex_cuba) October 30, 2020
The statement explains that those who designed the sanctions, which come into effect on November 26, know very well that it would not be possible to organize alternative solutions in 30 days.
It points out that “the U.S. government’s intentionality to interrupt remittances to Cuba is evident and of course, for this they need to lie to public opinion as usual.”
Belonging to the GAESA military conglomerate, Fincimex is not willing to give up the remittance business on the island, despite the sanctions.
According to the official note released on social media, the financial company has invested in equipment, premises, staff training and communications infrastructure for 20 years, to achieve a payment network capable of sustaining the high operational level of international remittance companies.
According to Fincimex, 70% of Western Union’s network of payment points on the island is made up of companies included in the list of restricted entities by the Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) of the U.S. Department of the Treasury, “so even without Fincimex’s management as Western Union’s representative in Cuba, they would be forced to close,” the statement underlines.
Cuba confirmed this week that the 407 Western Union offices will close due to the sanctions announced by the Donald Trump administration, which prohibit the sending of remittances from the United States to the island through official channels.
The financial services firm denounced in a statement that remittances to Cuba “will be totally interrupted,” when the ban on sending money through companies controlled by the Cuban Armed Forces enters into force on November 26.
After the announcement, a spokeswoman of the U.S. company for the Americas stated that they were still working to find an alternative arrangement that would allow them to maintain the service in Cuba, and that for now they were continuing to offer their service to the Cuban community.
“Our goal is to continue to provide essential money transfer services to clients, many of whom depend on remittances from loved ones to meet their daily needs,” said spokesperson Margaret Fogarty.
“Western Union is committed to complying with all government regulations and we are currently working to comply with the new rules and regulations in Cuba. We will provide additional information as we formalize those plans,” she added in a statement, quoted by international media.
It is very unfortunate that the Cuban government is so dependent on remittances from abroad to keep the country running and its citizens in a position to survive via the most basic way. Then, when you consider that the remittances are coming from the villain United States via American Cubans who despise the Cuban Government the whole picture turns even more desperate and sad. Around 90%-95% American Cubans in Florida will be voting for Trump and so for his policies designed to hurt the Cuban government and Cuban citizens. The very people who the Cuban government is counting on for economic survival are overwhelmingly voting for a foreign power that is only interested in destruction of the Cuban govt as we know it. This is pathetic on all levels. American Cubans should be ashamed just as much as the Cuban government. It would be hard to find another nation who’s citizens in such large numbers are workings so hard to hurt their own nation. One group is no better than the other. Both are a disgrace.