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Spanish MEP Hermann Tertsch (VOX, Patriots for Europe group) celebrated the suspension of Visa and Mastercard operations in Cuba this Sunday with a direct message on his X account: "The tourism of the progressive upper class, of the Spanish socialists and trade unionists, is over."
In the same message, Tertsch went further than the already adopted measure and demanded additional action: "Now it's time to freeze all types of cards held abroad by all party leaders, government members, and senior Cuban officials. Freeze all their cards and all their accounts. And that is the way forward."
The suspension of both payment networks in Cuba was brought forward to June 3, three days ahead of the planned deadline of June 6, when FINCIMEX S.A. halted operations to prevent losses arising from the 72-hour settlement cycle of transactions at point of sale.
An unidentified foreign processing bank notified FINCIMEX of the termination of its contract after 32 years of operations with both networks, in direct response to Executive Order No. 14404 signed by Donald Trump on May 1, 2026, which expanded the sanctions regime against Cuba and introduced secondary penalties for foreign financial institutions linked to GAESA.
The Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) had set June 5 as the deadline for foreign companies and financial institutions to cut their operations with the Cuban military conglomerate and its affiliates, triggering an unprecedented wave of exits from the Cuban market.
Meliá announced on June 3 the immediate cessation of operations in 15 hotels in Cuba, and Iberostar confirmed its exit from 12 establishments linked to Gaviota/GAESA as of June 1.
On June 4, the Department of the Treasury sanctioned Miguel Díaz-Canel directly for the first time, his wife Lis Cuesta, Alejandro Castro Espín, and other figures of the regime, as well as the Ministry of the Revolutionary Armed Forces and the Committees for the Defense of the Revolution.
Tertsch's tweet implicitly refers to the solidarity trips from the Spanish and international left to Cuba, the most recent example being the "Nuestra América" flotilla in March 2026, which was joined by former Podemos leader Pablo Iglesias alongside Jeremy Corbyn and around 650 delegates from 33 countries.
In May 2026, Tertsch had already requested in the European Parliament the immediate suspension of the agreements between the EU and Cuba, arguing that they financially support the Communist Party and its repressive organs.
The Cuban regime has responded to the sanctions by relying on alternative payment systems: the Russian MIR and the Chinese UnionPay. Vice Prime Minister Óscar Pérez-Oliva Fraga stated on June 5 at the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum that "financial activities are being maintained by making payments with MIR cards and [other cards] from countries and banks, allowing us to continue operating without difficulty."
Tourism in Cuba collapsed by 55.8% in the first four months of 2026, with only 328,608 international visitors between January and April, compared to the same period in 2025, and far from the record of 4.7 million tourists registered in 2018.
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