The State Department will push for a “strong response” from the United Nations for Turkey’s continued interference in Cyprus territory and urged Turkey to reverse its illegal development of the Varosha coastline, the agency said July 20. The U.S. is working with allies to urge a United Nations Security Council response but warned against “provocative unilateral actions that increase tensions on the island.” A bipartisan group of senators last week asked the Biden administration to impose sanctions on Turkey for its activities in Cyprus (see 2107150012).
The Office of Foreign Assets Control on July 20 extended a general license related to Petroleos de Venezuela and updated a frequently asked question to reflect the change. General License No. 5G, which replaced No. 5F (see 2012230066), now authorizes certain transactions with PdVSA involving an 8.5% bond on or after Oct. 21, 2021.
The Treasury Department’s top official in charge of its ongoing sanctions review (see 2107060012 and 2106220037) met this week with a bipartisan group of former sanctions officials, Treasury said in a July 20 news release. The virtual discussion, which included Treasury Deputy Secretary Wally Adeyemo and six former sanctions officials from the previous three administrations, featured talks on sanctions strategies and how to limit unintended consequences on businesses, allies and humanitarian groups. The agency said the discussion was part of a “series of engagements” to “identify opportunities for and challenges to improving the use and process for U.S. economic and financial sanctions.”
The State Department designated former Honduras President Porfirio Lobo Sosa and former first lady Rosa Elena Bonilla Avila for significant corruption, the agency said July 20. The State Department also designated their son, Fabio Porfirio Lobo; daughter, Ambar Naydee Lobo Bonilla; and minor child.
The Office of Foreign Assets Control published previously expired Ukraine-related general licenses to provide their full texts. Released July 16, the notices include Ukraine-Related Web General License 12, 14 and their “subsequent iterations.”
President Joe Biden said he has no immediate plans to reverse Trump-era sanctions on Cuba, including restrictions on sending remittances to the island, because the Cuban government likely would intercept the money. “I would not do that now because the fact is it’s highly likely that the regime would confiscate those remittances or big chunks of it,” Biden told reporters July 15. The Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control in October amended the Cuban Assets Control Regulations to further deny the Cuban government’s access to remittance-related funds (see 2010230024).
The U.S. extended national emergencies authorizing sanctions against Hong Kong and transnational criminal organizations, the White House said July 7. The White House said actions taken by Beijing to “fundamentally undermine” Hong Kong’s autonomy and activities by transnational criminal groups continue to “pose an unusual and extraordinary threat” to U.S. national security and foreign policy. The emergencies were renewed for one year, from July 14 and July 24, 2021, respectively.
The Office of Foreign Assets Control issued a July 6 reminder to industry to file annual reports on blocked property by Sept. 30. The notice applies to blocked property held as of June 30. It includes a link to the blocked property report spreadsheet and guidance on filing the reports.
The Biden administration is “nearly’ complete with its ongoing sanctions review and expects to put the results out “near the end of the summer,” The Wall Street Journal reported July 5. The review is part of a broader administration effort to move toward multilateral, calibrated measures instead of sweeping, unilateral pressure campaigns, the report said. The White House didn’t comment.
The Office of Foreign Assets Control officially released its Russian Harmful Foreign Activities Sanctions Directive July 7, outlining restrictions against the Central Bank of the Russian Federation, the National Wealth Fund of the Russian Federation and the Ministry of Finance of the Russian Federation. The directive, issued by OFAC in April (see 2104150019), was part of a broad sanctions package to penalize Russian human rights violations, corruption and election interference activities.