Latin America

Judi Lynn

(160,450 posts) Fri Jun 27, 2014, 11:49 PM Jun 2014

Red Bull settles with U.S. on Cuba violations claims

By Patrick M. Sheridan

Red Bull settles with U.S. on Cuba violations claims

Company traveled to Cuba to film documentary in 2009

UPDATED 9:24 PM MDT Jun 27, 2014

NEW YORK (CNNMoney) —Energy drink maker Red Bull North America has settled claims that it broke rules involving sanctions against Cuba.

The Treasury Department said Friday that the company has agreed to pay $89,775 over allegations it failed to get authorization from the Treasury to travel to Cuba in 2009.

The more than half-century old U.S. boycott of Cuba strictly prohibits businesses from visiting the island without first obtaining a license.

The Treasury says that between June 8 and June 18, 2009, seven representatives of Red Bull North America traveled to Cuba in order to film a documentary, without first obtaining approval.

More:
http://www.koat.com/project-economy/Red-Bull-settles-with-U-S-on-Cuba-violations-claims/26697310#!46Icc

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Red Bull settles with U.S. on Cuba violations claims (Original Post) Judi Lynn Jun 2014 OP

Previous US Treasury enforcement of Cuba sanctions: No hospitality for Cubans at Hilton hotels Judi Lynn Jun 2014 #1

Judi Lynn

(160,450 posts)

1. Previous US Treasury enforcement of Cuba sanctions: No hospitality for Cubans at Hilton hotels

Reply to Judi Lynn (Original post)

Sat Jun 28, 2014, 12:42 AM

Jun 2014

No hospitality for Cubans at Hilton hotels

The U.S. government is cracking down on enforcing the Cuban embargo, and American businesses overseas are paying the price, says Fortune's Eliza Barclay.

FORTUNE Magazine
by Eliza Barclay, Fortune Magazine

February 16 2007: 5:49 AM EST

(Fortune Magazine) -- When a delegation of 14 Cubans tried to stay at their usual hotel in Oslo for a travel fair in January, they found themselves bounced from the reservations roster.
It turns out the Scandic Edderkoppen Hotel had been acquired last spring by the Hilton chain, which is forbidden by the U.S. embargo from hosting Cuban guests - even in Norway. Norwegian activists called it discrimination and threatened suit; others called for a boycott of the entire 140-hotel Scandic chain.

Hilton acted preemptively without a directive from Washington, D.C. But the fear of a phone call and a fine from the U.S. Treasury Department's Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) is enough to keep businesses dealing with Cubans on vigilant watch.

That's because OFAC has been cracking down in line with the Bush administration's tightened policy against Cuba since 2003 - the relinquishing of power by the ailing Fidel Castro last year notwithstanding. Under the Trading With the Enemy Act, U.S. businesses and subsidiaries are prohibited from providing services to Cubans - a provision more restrictive than for other sanctioned countries, including Iran and North Korea. "Various measures under the Cuban sanctions have been strengthened under the Bush administration," says OFAC spokeswoman Molly Millerwise.

In December, OFAC fined Oliver Stone's production company, Ixtlan Corp., $6,322 for filming the documentary Comandante, about Fidel Castro, in Cuba. And OFAC now scrutinizes the rare licenses granted for travel to Cuba. Until 2003, Americans could skirt restrictions by touring with organized cultural or "religious" groups. "OFAC wants to send a message: Trade with Cuba is still prohibited," says Douglas Jacobson, a sanctions and export-control attorney with Strasburger & Price in Washington, D.C.

More:
http://archive.fortune.com/magazines/fortune/fortune_archive/2007/02/05/8399194/index.htm?postversion=2007021605

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