Airbnb is rightly fined for violating Cuban embargo. It got off easy | Editorial
An earlier version of this article gave the incorrect maximum amount levied by the U..S Treasury department for violating the U.S. embargo on Cuba.
President Biden and former President Trump have little in common, but they both agree on one aspect of foreign policy: Be unyielding with the Cuban government, and make sure to erase all the concessions that the Obama administration granted to the Communist island starting in 2014.
It was the right approach to the repressive nation under Trump, and it’s the right approach now.
This week, the U.S. Treasury Department fined Airbnb, one of the best-known vacation rental companies in the world, for apparent violations of the 1962 U.S. embargo on the island, according to el Nuevo Herald.
That’s a serious accusation, especially considering Airbnb was once the poster child of reopened relations with Cuba. In 2016, Airbnb received special authorization from the Obama administration allowing travelers from around the world to book stays in private homes on the island. Airbnb was the first major American company to enter Cuba after Presidents Obama and Raúl Castro declared detente on Dec. 17, 2014.
The Obama administration promoted Airbnb’s success in Cuba to encourage more American companies to do business there. President Obama hoped that it would bring political change to island. No such luck.
In its announcement, the U.S. Office of Foreign Assets Control blasted Airbnb’s apparent violations, saying it “undermined” the embargo and U.S. foreign policy towards Cuba.
Airbnb agreed to pay $91,172 to settle “its potential civil liability for apparent violations of sanctions against Cuba,” according to el Nuevo Herald.
What transgressions did the company commit? Airbnb accepted reservations from guests traveling to the island outside the current 12 authorized categories and failing to keep certain records. Currently, Americans can travel to Cuba for specific reasons only, including family visits, educational and religious activities, and humanitarian projects.
And Airbnb got off easy. The fine was reduced from the maximum of $6 million because Airbnb disclosed the potential violations and cooperated with OFAC, the agency said.
“Airbnb operates in more than 220 countries and regions around the world, and we take sanctions compliance very seriously,” company spokesperson Christopher Nulty said. “We are pleased to have reached this agreement with OFAC.”
And just like Trump, the Biden administration refuses to get tangled up in Cuba-Miami exile politics or interfere with the island’s internal human-rights violations, no matter how much Cuban exiles in Miami demand it, which they did last summer after demonstrations broke out across the island.
That hands-off stance is frustrating to many Cuba watchers, who say that the Castro-inspired government is more vulnerable than ever. Any U.S. or international pressure would make the 63-year-government collapse, they say. But like Trump, Biden has kept his distance.
And since the administration isn’t putting the heat on the regime, the Treasury Department’s enforcement action is a sign of how much U.S. policy toward Cuba has chilled.
This story was originally published January 7, 2022 at 6:00 AM.