The United States Department of State has imposed sanctions on Orbit S.A., a company involved in processing remittances to Cuba that falls under the control of GAESA, the business conglomerate operated by Cuba's Revolutionary Armed Forces. This move aligns with a series of actions initiated by the Trump administration aimed at strengthening the U.S. stance against the Cuban regime, as stated in an announcement by the State Department.
Orbit S.A. has now been added to the State Department's updated "Cuba Restricted List," which bans transactions with entities linked to the Cuban military, intelligence, and state security apparatus. The U.S. government has justified this sanction by emphasizing the need to prevent financial resources from reaching sectors that "oppress and surveil" the Cuban people while maintaining control over substantial parts of the island's economy.
This sanction is part of a broader strategy by President Trump to roll back policy changes toward Cuba that were implemented by the previous administration. From the onset of his presidency, Trump reiterated his commitment to keeping Cuba on the list of countries that support terrorism, citing ongoing Cuban assistance to international terrorist activities.
Moreover, the Trump administration has reinstated the right of U.S. citizens to file private lawsuits over properties that were trafficked and seized by the Cuban regime, under the LIBERTAD Act, also known as Title III of the Helms-Burton Act. Secretary of State Marco Rubio has emphasized the State Department's steadfast commitment to upholding human rights and basic freedoms for the Cuban people.
The official statement also called for the immediate release of all political prisoners unjustly detained on the island. It condemned Cuba's malign interference in Latin America and other regions, noting that the U.S. Embassy in Havana is actively engaging with the families of Cuban political prisoners and dissidents.
Orbit S.A.: A Lifeline for GAESA
In December 2024, an investigation by the Miami Herald exposed that Orbit S.A., the firm handling remittance transfers from the United States to Cuba, is controlled by the Grupo de Administración Empresarial S.A. (GAESA), the powerful military conglomerate that dominates the island's dollarized economy. This finding contradicts the Cuban regime's claims and the Biden administration's 2022 approval of a deal with Orbit, which was conditioned on the absence of military ties.
The investigation, grounded in secret CIMEX documents—a GAESA subsidiary—and testimonies from insiders, unveiled how the Cuban government crafted a civilian facade to circumvent sanctions imposed by the Trump administration in 2020. Orbit S.A. was portrayed as an independent company under the Ministry of Foreign Trade and Investment, but the evidence reviewed by the Miami Herald reveals otherwise.
According to the documents scrutinized by the publication, Orbit operates as an extension of CIMEX, which directly reports to GAESA. These documents show that CIMEX oversees all of Orbit's operations, including money transfers processed by Western Union and Miami-based remittance agencies like VaCuba and Cubamax. Orbit leverages CIMEX's financial infrastructure to carry out these transactions, with data from both companies appearing in the same monthly reports compiled by CIMEX for GAESA's top executives.
FAQs on U.S. Sanctions Against Orbit S.A.
What prompted the U.S. to sanction Orbit S.A.?
The U.S. sanctioned Orbit S.A. because it is controlled by GAESA, a military conglomerate connected to Cuba's state security and intelligence apparatus. The sanction aims to prevent resources from supporting sectors that oppress the Cuban population.
How does Orbit S.A. relate to GAESA?
Orbit S.A. is essentially an extension of CIMEX, a GAESA subsidiary, and is managed in a way that serves GAESA's interests, contradicting claims of it being an independent entity.