From our Bureau of Socialist Greed with some assistance from our Bureau of Parasitic Latrine American Totalitarian Hellholes
It doesn’t take a genius to figure out what is going on in discussions about remittances between Western Union and Castro, Inc. It’s very simple. Castro, Inc. wants a larger share of every remittance sent to Cuba from the “diaspora.” Western Union is refusing to cave in to Castro, Inc.’s extortionist demands.
Meanwhile, Castro, Inc. has set up its own system of sending remittances though AIS (American International Service), which is linked to a Spanish bank in Bilbao, Spain. Surprise! Castro, Inc. gets a larger share of the profits through AIS! As always, Castro, Inc. gets its pound of flesh. In this case, the flesh is taken from the Cubans who send money and the Cubans who receive it. Socialism in action.
Loosely translated from Marti Noticias
Western Union has once again been left without a date for the resumption of remittance transfers to Cuba. Less than two days before the scheduled date, an official from the company explained to Martí Noticias that they have not yet received the corresponding updates from Havana.
“The date has been extended because Cuba has not cooperated,” said the employee.
“Western Union was hoping that everything would be resolved by April, but unfortunately, there is no new information in the system regarding the issue we were experiencing. For now, transfers remain suspended,” he added.
The service has been interrupted since January 26 due to problems with the island’s banking entities, but the company planned to resume money transfers to Cuba on April 1.
Authorities have not provided precise information about what happened with Western Union, but since last week FINCIMEX, the financial arm of the military conglomerate GAESA, announced the reactivation of AIS (American International Service) USD cards, which can receive deposits from abroad.
“From this moment on, the money transfer service to AIS USD cards is restored… This type of card retains its usual benefits, to which the possibility of being used to purchase fuel in USD is now added,” the note indicates and clarifies that top-ups can be made through the website Tocopay, a company based in Bilbao, Spain, registered in 2013.
This Wednesday, FINCIMEX said that deposits from any country were also restored with the newly issued Clásica cards, launched at the end of January.
For economist Miguel Alejandro Hayes, this could indicate “a preference in receiving money through their own channels.”
“Sending remittances to Cuba through Western Union implies that a portion of the business’s profits end up in the company’s hands. On the other hand, sending remittances through AIS and Clásica cards implies fewer losses for the foreign currencies captured by the government,” he said.
One of the objectives of the package announced by the regime to “correct distortions in the Cuban economy” is the “recovery of the flow of remittances.” In fact, the newly appointed First Deputy Minister of the Ministry of Economy and Planning, Mildrey Granadillo de la Torre, announced that this month they would begin implementing measures for this purpose.
The key element is always what suits and benefits the regime. Always. It only allows what it can profit from.
It has always been clear to everyone familiar with Cuba that it is practically impossible to help Cubans on the island without also helping the regime, because that’s the idea–everything is rigged so that the regime gets a cut. Thus, ordinary Cubans are effectively hostages for whom ransom is paid one way or another.