In its relentless quest to keep America safe from terrorism, OFAC recently fined a group of Baptists missionaries $34,000 who were on licensed travel to Cuba and who stayed in a hotel near the beach and visited Old Town Havana. Under OFAC rules, American missionaries must devote every single moment in Cuba to their mission and are subject to fine if they engage in any activity that might be considered a tourist activity. I am certain that we will all sleep better tonight knowing that OFAC has a watchful eye on Baptist missionaries in Cuba.

OFAC has also been doing its share to make sure that traveling Cuban officials stay at Le Meridien instead of the Intercontinental. The Chicago Tribune reported yesterday that a meeting between Cuban officials and U.S. oil executives in Mexico City in February was disrupted after OFAC forced the American-owned hotel (which may or may not have been the Intercontinental) to evict the Cuban officials. The meeting between the Cubans and the oil interests had been prompted by the U.S. Geological Survey’s recent estimate that Cuba’s northern offshore basin contains 4.6 billion barrels of oil.

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