By Eric Green, USIA Staff Writer
USIS Washington File 08 July 1999
(U.S. currency can be sent to 12 Cuban locations) (590)
WASHINGTON -- In an action designed to improve the lives of the Cuban people, the U.S. government has authorized the Western Union wire transfer company to allow the sending of remittances from the United States to Cuba, as long as the recipients are not members of the Cuban government, the
State Department and Western Union have announced.
Senders in the United States are allowed to transfer a maximum of $300 to Cuba per 90-day period, although they can send smaller amounts, such as $100, more than once in that period. However, senders will have to pay the $29 fee each time money is transferred. Senders must be at least 18 years
old and are required to sign an affidavit that says the money is not going to Cuban government officials.
The transferring of money began July 8 and will be done in U.S. currency, meaning that recipients in Cuba will be able to receive U.S. dollars rather than the considerably less valuable Cuban peso. Western Union will charge a $29 fee for sending remittances to Cuba.
Western Union officials say the sending of remittances will initially be done only from the Dade County (Miami), Florida, area. After a trial period, the company said it plans to expand the service throughout the United States, perhaps by September. Western Union says recipients will be able to
receive the money within one or two hours after the money is sent, unless problems -- such as falsified affidavits -- are discovered.
Western Union said recipients can pick up the money in the following locations in Cuba: the cities of Bayamo, Santiago de Cuba, Holguín, Havana, Sancti Spiritus, Ciego de Avila, Cienfuegos, Guantánamo, Matanzas, Pinar del Rio, Las Tunas, and in the province of Villa Clara. The
sender will be responsible for contacting the recipients to let them know the money is being made available, the company said. The transaction forms are written in English and Spanish.
A State Department official, offering background on the service, said that in 1994 the U.S. Treasury Department's Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) issued a license to Western Union to transfer remittances from Cuban-Americans in the United States to close family members in Cuba. However,
in the aftermath of the 1996 shootdown by the Cuban airforce of two small U.S. civilian airplanes, President Clinton suspended the sending of remittances to Cuba. On March 20, 1998, he reinstated service as part of a broader effort to improve people-to-people contacts between the United States and
Cuba. In response, the official said, Western Union negotiated an agreement with a Panamanian company which has a Cuban company as a minority partner, to conduct Western Union's operations in Havana.
The Department added that Treasury's OFAC is considering the application of other financial entities wanting to become remittance forwarders.
The move to allow remittances originally was made to help the Cuban people weather their country's economic problems, especially after the 1991 collapse of the Soviet Union, which had been supplying the Cuban government with massive economic aid. Allowing remittances has drawn praise from
Cuban-U.S. groups, including the Miami-based Cuban-American National Foundation, which opposes détente with the Castro government.
Those seeking more information about sending remittances to Cuba can call the Western Union bilingual service line at 1-800-325-4045. Outside the United States, those wishing information about the money transferring service should call 53-7-241935 in Havana. |