OFAC issues Cuba General License 1, adds one Cuba-related designation under E.O. 14404

**WASHINGTON, May 7, 2026 **- The U.S. Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control issued Cuba General License 1 on Thursday, authorizing transactions otherwise prohibited by Executive Order 14404 to the extent those transactions are already authorized or exempt under the Cuban Assets Control Regulations, or CACR. The license also makes clear it does not authorize any transaction otherwise prohibited by 31 CFR Chapter V.

The move appears designed to prevent disruption to existing Cuba-related activity already permitted under the CACR as OFAC rolls out E.O. 14404, a separate sanctions authority aimed at foreign persons involved in repression in Cuba or threats to U.S. national security and foreign policy. OFAC said the executive order does not disturb the validity of licenses issued under the CACR.

Alongside the license, OFAC published six new Cuba-related FAQs, numbered 1251 through 1256. The guidance says E.O. 14404 creates a sanctions program separate from, and in addition to, the CACR, and warns that foreign persons operating in identified Cuban sectors including energy, defense, metals and mining, financial services and security face sanctions risk, though they are not automatically sanctioned.

OFAC also updated the SDN List with one new Cuba-related designation, adding Ania Guillermina Lastres Morera of Marianao, Havana, Cuba under the new Cuba executive order. It also updated two existing Cuba entries, Grupo de Administracion Empresarial S.A., or GAESA, and Moa Nickel S.A., to reflect the new Cuba-E.O. designation tag.