US Coast Guard announces new measure regarding Cuba

The United States Coast Guard announced the imposition of new entry conditions for vessels from Cuba starting April 2, according to a publication in the Federal Register on Wednesday.

“These conditions are intended to protect the United States from vessels originating from foreign ports or locations with inadequate counterterrorism measures,” it said.

The notice is governed by the Maritime Transportation Security Act and the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), which imposes entry conditions on vessels arriving in US waters from foreign ports that, according to the Coast Guard, do not maintain effective counterterrorism measures.

The amended regulations establish that DHS will consider any port under the jurisdiction of a foreign government that is a State Sponsor of Terrorism (SSOT) to lack effective counterterrorism measures.

Therefore, pursuant to Title 46 of the United States Code, Section 70108, as amended, and the arbitrary designation of Cuba on the State Department’s unilateral SSOT list, the Coast Guard considers that Cuba lacks effective counterterrorism measures.

The US list includes Cambodia, Cameroon, Comoros, Cuba, Djibouti, Equatorial Guinea, Gambia, Guinea-Bissau, Iran, Iraq, Libya, Madagascar, the Federated States of Micronesia, Nauru, Nigeria, Sao Tome and Principe, Seychelles, Sudan, Syria, East Timor, Venezuela, and Yemen.

Washington also placed Cuba on a list of 43 countries that has sparked outrage among Caribbean leaders. This is a proposed travel ban that could prevent entry to the United States by citizens of Haiti, Cuba, and Venezuela, among others.

It also includes visa restrictions for Cuban and third-country officials associated with the island’s medical services abroad.

On February 25, Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced the expansion of an existing visa restriction policy linked to Cuba, aimed at torpedoing its international collaboration in the field of health care, a noble and humanitarian mission that has taken more than 60 nations.