The US rules out for now allowing Cuban MSMEs access to its banking system

The US government ruled out "for now" opening its banking system to Cuban Micro, Medium and Small Enterprises (MSMEs), a senior State Department official reported.

On Thursday, a congressional committee questioned Eric Jacobstein, deputy assistant secretary in the Office of Latin American Affairs, about rumors that President Joe Biden's administration was considering allowingentrepreneurs Cubans open accounts in US banks.

"At the moment I do not have information about specific regulatory changes," said Jacobstein, who later said, however, that the Biden Administration is committed to "supporting the Cuban people" and "the growth of the private sector," which "sees "The United States as a source of inspiration."

He considered that the authorization of the regime to thecreation of private MSMEs after 2021 are an indication that the "Cuban communist experiment failed."

Jacobstein's intervention, however, was questioned by Republican congresswoman María Elvira Salazar, who asked the official if he knew that many owners of these new businesses, who are actually people linked to the Cuban Government.

"Make sure you send the message to the State Department that (opening the US banking system to MSMEs on the island) would not be a good idea because it would violate the embargo," stressed the congresswoman of Cuban origin.

President Joe Biden's administration announced last September that it is willing to implement measures to ease therestrictions imposed on Cuba in order to allow greater financial support from the US to small businesses in the Caribbean nation.

These measures were expected to allowCuban businessmen access the banking system American, which would make "life easier for MSMEs," said lawyer Pedro Freyre, from Miami.

Although limited, it would be a step to try to help private companies struggling to survive in the island's destroyed economy, according to a Bloomberg report.

The United States Department of the Treasury also granted licenses last year toMiami businessmen for shipping cars, trucks, tractors and even trailers to self-employed workers in Cuba.

The license is for 10 million dollars and only allows shipping to self-employed workers, not to Cuban Government agencies.

However, it has emerged that many MSMEs belong to members of the regime's top leadership, family members, or repressive officials.