LatinNews Daily - 30 September 2026

*The US Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (Ofac) has issued new regulations tightening already stringent travel restrictions to Cuba, eliminating as of today (30 September) authorisation for individuals subject to US jurisdiction to “attend or organize professional meetings or conferences in Cuba”. Also as of today, educational Cuba-related travel by persons subject to US jurisdiction must now be under the auspices of an organisation subject to the jurisdiction of the US and “almost all travelers must be accompanied by a representative of the sponsoring organization”. However, there is an exception for accredited US undergraduate or graduate-degree granting institutions, their students, and full-time permanent employees conducting certain educational activities who may travel without being accompanied by a representative from a sponsoring organisation. According to the same Ofac regulations, “group people-to-people educational travel” is no longer permitted. Also yesterday, Ofac passed new regulations whereby US banking institutions are no longer permitted to open and maintain accounts for Cuban nationals “who are independent private sector entrepreneurs”, while ‘U-turn’ transactions whereby US banking institutions could process Cuba-related transactions that “originated and terminated outside the United States,” have also been terminated, among other things. The latest changes have been blasted by Cuba’s foreign minister, Bruno Rodríguez, who wrote on social media that “the US government issued a new host of blockade measures against the Cuban people”, which “are intended to hinder the ongoing process of economic transformations” – a reference to the sweeping economic reform package unveiled by the Cuban government in June in a bid to ease Washington’s maximum pressure campaign on the island.

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