This February 7th, the world-renowned remittance agency Western Union reported "problems" sending money (dollars or euros) to Cuba. Could this be the beginning of the end?
Money transfers to Cuba are facing a new disruption due to the U.S. State Department's recent decision to add Orbit SA to its list of sanctioned entities. As a result, the U.S. agency Western Union could no longer process transfers with an entity on the U.S. blacklist.
This measure would force Western Union and other agencies in Miami from sending remittances to Cuba to break ties with the company, leaving Cubans without access to official channels for sending dollars to cards in MLC to the island.
Western Union had resumed operations in Cuba in 2023, following the ban imposed on Fincimex, another entity associated with the Cuban Armed Forces.
What is happening today, February 7th, in the website official? According to commentators in Directorio Cubano, since early today it was not possible to send money to Cuba.
From our editorial office we tried and indeed when doing so the following message is displayed: "We're sorry, but there was a technical problem. Please try again later.
The beginning of the end? Western Union may be orchestrating the end of money transfers to Cuba.
Following the sanction against Orbit, Western Union may be backing down on the ability to send money to Cuba from its offices, website, or mobile app, from anywhere in the world. However, there has been no official statement regarding the "technical issue" they are experiencing at the time we published it.
Currently, the website Western Union notes: "Send money to debit cards MLC and bank accounts in Cuba. Service available for Popular, Metropolitano, and Bandec banks. Customers can send up to USD 2,000 per transaction (additional limits may apply). Zero-fee transfers are not available in Cuba.
Officially, the possibility remains, but these "thunderstorms" could be the beginning of the end for this means of sending remittances to the island from the United States.
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Let us know what you think:
3 comments
I have been scammed, my money came in on February 4th and it hasn't appeared. I'm going to sue. It's been a scam. The orbit doesn't give me a response. What should I do? Where is my money? Where did it go?
Better this way if it is the tea MLC It's no good in Cuba, so don't send anything, you're thieves.
It's no longer possible to send remittances to Cuba via Western Union. I tried this morning without success, and a representative confirmed the termination of transfers to Cuba.