§6004 Support for Cuban People

Summary

Allows certain help to the Cuban people even if other laws or earlier actions would say otherwise, including section 2370(a) and actions taken before October 23, 1992 under the Trading With the Enemy Act, the International Emergency Economic Powers Act, or the Export Administration Act. It says donations of food to people or nonprofit groups in Cuba are allowed. Medicines, medical supplies, and medical equipment should not be blocked from going to Cuba except in four cases: when other export laws allow limits (see section 5(m) of the Export Administration Act of 1979 or section 203(b)(2) of IEEPA), when the items are likely to be used for torture or human rights abuses, when they are likely to be reexported, or when they could be used to make biotechnological products. Most medical exports must have specific U.S. licenses and the President must be able to check on site that the items go only to the Cuban people; donations to Cuban NGOs for humanitarian medicine are not subject to the on‑site check. Telecommunications between the United States and Cuba are allowed, and necessary facilities may be built to provide good service. The President can let payments go to Cuba for those services, but if only part of a payment is sent, the rest must be kept in a blocked U.S. bank account. The Federal Communications Commission keeps its normal authority. U.S. persons may not invest in Cuba’s domestic telephone network. The President must report to Congress every six months about payments made to Cuba for telecom services. The U.S. Postal Service must provide direct mail to and from Cuba, and the U.S. government may fund nongovernmental groups to support nonviolent democratic change in Cuba.