A growing number of embassies of foreign countries in Havana, Cuba, are struggling to access cash as Cuban regime banks freeze their accounts, claiming they simply do not have cash on hand to give, multiple sources told Breitbart News this week.
The situation echoes what Cuban citizens have been facing for months: hours-long lines at banks just to access their paychecks, a dearth of functional ATMs in the country, and growing challenges to conduct basic business such as buying food or clothing. Some international corporations, reports in April revealed, have also found their bank accounts suddenly frozen. The Castro regime reportedly offered an alternative to open new accounts that bring in money from outside the island, but no way to use the money supposedly already in Cuban banks.
The Castro regime — a close ally to China, Russia, and multiple international terrorist organizations — has long subjected its citizens to extreme economic hardship, blaming American sanctions on the regime in response to its human rights abuses, commonly known as the “embargo,” for the situation while enriching itself by selling slaves and attracting Canadian and European tourism. During the administrations of former Presidents Barack Obama and Joe Biden, which pursued a policy of offering concessions to the Cuban Communist Party, Havana added to its coffers millions in sanctions relief, American celebrity tourism, and remittances. The return of President Donald Trump to the White House has stalled much of that momentum, shutting off pivotal cash flows to the regime — a situation that the Cuban government blames for its poor management of its banking systems.
The failure of Cuban banks has begun affecting foreign embassies, multiple sources have told Breitbart News. An informed source said in conversation last week that multiple European and Asian embassies in Havana have begun struggling to access their funds. One embassy reportedly began flying in cash from abroad to provide living expenses for its workers.
Maryan Zablotskyy, a Ukrainian lawmaker in the federal-level Verkhovna Rada who has helped expose the extent of Cuba’s involvement in the Russian invasion of his country, told Breitbart News that his country’s embassy is among those affected.
“If you speak to any embassy in Cuba, they will say that Cuban government is freezing funds that they receive for their funding,” Zablotskyy explained. “Cuban government typically requires that foreign embassies use their government-run banks. These funds in recent years are increasingly frozen with no end in sight.”
The money, he noted, in the Cuban bank accounts is meant to fund “salaries, rent, and other expenses.” The lawmaker added that the absence of these funds leaves the employees “without food or means of living for months.”
“Problems with this I heard at least from Ukrainians, Japanese, Canadian, many EU countries, Georgia, Azerbaijan, etc. Many embassies started using alternatives as opening accounts in foreign banks, transferring raw cash, etc.,” he shared.
Zablotskyy shared that he believes the Cuban government is embezzling the money.
“That whole situation raises serious concern on how [the] Cuban government is benefitting from any embassy they have on their ground. And also how any embassy outside Cuba benefits them. Essentially, Cuban government uses all of them as cash cows. This is not normal diplomacy,” he asserted.
Breitbart News reached out to the Japanese, Canadian, Georgian, and Azeri foreign ministries, as well as the governments of Sweden, Spain, and Poland, and the government of Argentina, which maintains an embassy in Havana but, under President Javier Milei, actively condemns the Cuban regime. Japan, Canada, Georgia, Azerbaijan, Argentina, and Spain did not respond to requests for comment.
The press office of the Swedish Ministry for Foreign Affairs told Breitbart News that it “does not comment on individual cases out of consideration for relations with other countries.”
The Department of Information of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Poland issued a statement describing the cash flow situation as a universal crisis on the island.
“We kindly inform you that according to the information provided to us by the Polish Embassy in Havana, the insolvency of banks in Cuba affects everyone — individuals and legal entities — with foreign currency accounts,” the office said in its statement. “Currently, no one is able to extract funds from these accounts.”
Breitbart News also asked the U.S. State Department if American diplomats are affected by the alleged situation. The United States embassy was reopened in Havana under President Obama and currently maintained by Charge d’Affaires Mike Hammer. Hammer has infuriated the Castro regime by engaging directly with Cubans at the local level, prompting threats from the Communist Party suggesting it could declare him persona non grata.
“While U.S. Embassy Havana does not rely on the Cuban regime’s banking system,” the State Department told Breitbart News, “we have heard that foreign missions on the island experience challenges accessing funds in their accounts in Cuban banks, this is also a common occurrence for everyday Cubans.”
Breitbart News requested comment from the Cuban External Relations Ministry (Minrex) early this week, but has not received any response at press time.
The alleged situation echoes reports of what private foreign corporations experienced on the island in April. Sources speaking to the Spanish newswire service EFE reported that the Cuban Communist Party abruptly froze the accounts of “multiple foreign corporations with operations on the island.” The freeze prevented the corporations from repatriating the money, not just accessing it to spend within Cuba.
One anonymous corporate official expressed exasperation to EFE, declaring, “that money does not belong to the Cuban state, but to the corporations.”
EFE reported that some sources said the Castro regime offered the corporations the opportunity to open new accounts with full access provided, but those accounts “could only receive foreign transfers [of funds]; the transfer of blocked funds from the prior accounts was not allowed.” While inconvenient, some corporations reportedly accepted that offer, according to the Spanish news agency.
Cuban nations have no access to such a “VIP” bank account scheme, struggling to both find a usable ATM and even to access teller services. On July 12, the independent outlet Cubanet narrated the journey of finding an ATM with money in it, which it described as a “feat” and “torture.”
“The line of users is enormous and takes very long,” it noted, and many users are “of an advanced age,” delaying the process further.
“It happens often that these elderly people, not providing the correct PIN, block the entire machine, which is then out of service until technicians arrive to extract their card,” Cubanet detailed. Any broken machines remain out of order indefinitely, as the Cuban regime lacks replacement parts.
The U.S.-based Martí Noticias described in a report in June a dire scenario inside the banks where a lack of cash on hand and regular electrical outages make normal banking impossible.
“I have not been able to take out any of my retirement money, none,” an elder man identified as René Lozano complained to Martí. “Because there are 80 or 100 numbers [on the line to see a teller] and you have to arrive at midnight. And to get one of those little numbers you have to pay people to stand in line all night, and they sell it to you for 300 pesos.” Three hundred Cuban pesos is about $12.50; the average salary for a Cuban as of April is 5,839 pesos, or about 243.28, but some estimates describe its buying power at about closer to $16.
Chaotic scenes at local banks have become common, as long lines of individuals waiting for hours materialize long before the hot Caribbean sun rises.
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