Stripe, a payment gateway, has frozen our account with almost £1,000 that we had already raised for medical aid for Matanzas’ hospitals in the wake of the terrible fire earlier this month.
his decision comes only few days after Stripe confirmed that we could use their services to collect online donations on our website (cubanos.org.uk).

The Treasury has again imposed two fines on Western European companies as part of the blockade – and US – government sanctions policy. It is about CA Indosuez Switzerland S.A. ( CAIS ), which offers wealth management and is based in Switzerland, and CFM Indosuez Wealth ( CFM ), based in Monaco.
The US – International Investment Control Authority ( Ofac ) has justified the penalties in both cases with business activities with Cuba and some other countries, including Iran and Syria.

Stripe has shamefully and hypocritically hidden the real reason for that decision, after we advised them that implementing unilateral US sanctions on Cuba against individuals and entities in Britain is a violation of UK laws. Instead, they have referred to ‘financial crimes concerns, including money laundering, terrorist financing, corruption, fraud, and other activities’. Cubanos en UK is a community association and is not involved or implicated in any of the activities in Stripe’s restricted business list. It is insulting to even suggest this!

Cuba, a small island developing state, has paid a high price for defending its legitimate right to exist as a sovereign and independent nation. For more than six decades we have resisted a ruthless and unilateral economic, commercial and financial blockade intensified in the extreme, to unprecedented levels since 2019 and during the pandemic.