U.S. expands list of sanctioned Cuban entities

   The State, Treasury and Commerce departments continue to expand the list of Cuban enterprises with which U.S. individuals are prohibited from doing business. 
   In a Federal Register notice Wednesday, five Cuban “subentities” — Hotel Santa Isabel, Hotel El Caney Varadero, Meliá Marina Varadero Apartamentos, Aerogaviota, a subsidiary of GAESA, and the Diving Center at Marina Gaviota — were added to the department control lists. 
   Specifically, these subentities were added to State’s Cuba Restricted List. Commerce’s Bureau of Industry and Security will generally deny export license applications to those entities on the Cuba Restricted List, while Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control prohibits financial transactions with those listed entities.
   The departments have determined that the newest additions to the Cuba Restricted List are “under the control of, or act for or on behalf of, the Cuban military, intelligence or security services or personnel.”
   President Donald Trump signed the so-called National Security Presidential Memorandum-5 on Strengthening the Policy of the U.S. Toward Cuba (NSPM-5) on June 16, 2017. 
    This is the third update to the Cuba Restricted List since it was published Nov. 9, 2017. The first update of 26 additional subentities and five amendments was published Nov. 15, 2018, followed by a second update of five additional subentities on March 9, 2019.