Breathtaking: Obama’s Direct Gift to Cuban Regime Officials

This week, the Federal Register published the Obama Administration’s latest regulatory changes.

Buried in the rule — ignored by the press releases and overlooked by the media — was (perhaps) Obama’s greatest betrayal of the Cuban people.

Towards the end, there’s a section that reads:

“Definition of prohibited officials of the Government of Cuba and prohibited members of the Cuban Communist Party. OFAC is amending sections 515.337 and 515.338 to narrow the definitions in these sections.”

In summary, the Obama Administration has just opened the the door for the overwhelming majority of Castro regime officials to take advantage of the sanctions relief that was purportedly aimed to “support the Cuban people” — and more specifically, for Cuba’s independent “entrepreneurs.”

It now permits members of the Castro’s Council of State; its puppet legislature; its political prosecutors; local and provincial regime officials; ministry officials; secret police officials (DSE); intelligence officials (DGI); neighborhood repressors (CDR); media and cultural censors (UNEAC); and prison wardens and abusers to enjoy unlimited remittances, gift parcels, U-turn banking transactions, communications devices and to even employ U.S.-based Internet-related services that further their repressive activities.

Note the dramatic change in definitions.

Old Definition:

§515.337 Prohibited officials of the Government of Cuba.

For purposes of this part, the term prohibited officials of the Government of Cuba means Ministers and Vice-ministers, members of the Council of State and the Council of Ministers; members and employees of the National Assembly of People’s Power; members of any provincial assembly; local sector chiefs of the Committees for the Defense of the Revolution; Director Generals and sub-Director Generals and higher of all Cuban ministries and state agencies; employees of the Ministry of the Interior (MININT); employees of the Ministry of Defense (MINFAR); secretaries and first secretaries of the Confederation of Labor of Cuba (CTC) and its component unions; chief editors, editors, and deputy editors of Cuban state-run media organizations and programs, including newspapers, television, and radio; and members and employees of the Supreme Court (Tribuno Supremo Nacional).

New Definition:

§515.337 Prohibited officials of the Government of Cuba.

For purposes of this part, the term prohibited officials of the Government of Cuba means members of the Council of Ministers and flag officers of the Revolutionary Armed Forces.

[81 FR 71374, Oct. 17, 2016]

Old Definition:

§515.338 Prohibited members of the Cuban Communist Party.

For purposes of this part, the term prohibited members of the Cuban Communist Party means members of the Politburo, the Central Committee, Department Heads of the Central Committee, employees of the Central Committee, and secretaries and first secretaries of the provincial Party central committees.

New Definition:

§515.338 Prohibited members of the Cuban Communist Party.

For purposes of this part, the term prohibited members of the Cuban Communist Party means members of the Politburo.

[81 FR 71374, Oct. 17, 2016]

Whether it’s pallets of cash for Iran’s mullahs or gifts for Cuba’s dictatorship, let’s dispel this notion that the Obama Administration cares about human rights or the well-being of those captive nation’s people.

This is about Obama kowtowing to the world’s most brutal regimes — at whatever cost — with the hopes of creating a political “legacy.”