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Envioscuba.com announced it has stopped taking orders as round
after round of U.S. sanctions aim to choke off international
support for businesses in Cuba. The latest target Cuba’s
state-owned oil and gas company, Cuban President Miguel Diaz-Canel
and GAESA, a business conglomerate run by the Revolutionary
Armed Forces of Cuba that owns a wide range of businesses, from
car rentals and retail stores to transportation companies.
Increasingly, it's the most vulnerable who are being punished as
Cubans endure shortages of food and medicine, nearly constant
blackouts and stifling heat. Many have received help from family
and friends in the U.S., who send money and packages from Miami
containing appliances, food, and clothing, or purchase products
online for delivery in Cuba.
Envioscuba.com said it no longer accepting new orders, but all
those previously approved and in process will be delivered.
“Due to reasons beyond our control, our platform can no longer
provide services,” the website said, without elaborating. It is
not clear exactly when new orders stopped being received.
The AP was unable to contact the company. Its website does not
list a phone number to call or an email address to send a
message.
Platforms like envioscuba.com were operating directly with Grupo
de Administración Empresarial S.A. said Emilio Morales,
president at Havana Consulting Group, a Miami-based consulting
firm specializing in market strategies for doing business in
Cuba.
Most such portals, including envioscuba.com, do not ship
products from the United States to Cuba, but rather sell and
deliver products stored in GAESA warehouses on the island,
Morales said. “The trend is for all of this to disappear,
because GAESA is behind it all,” said Morales, who expects other
similar portals to shut down as well to avoid being sanctioned
for doing business with the Cuban government.
The administration's sanctions threaten to freeze U.S. assets of
foreign companies and even prohibit travel by their investors,
employees and shareholders — virtually eliminating their
activity in the U.S. financial system.
Spanish hotel chain Meliá recently announced it will cease
operations at 15 of the 34 hotels it manages on the island,
joining a growing list of companies with a long-standing
presence in Cuba that are withdrawing or limiting their
operations on the island.
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