The President of the United States, Joe Biden, extended for another year the Trading with the Enemy Act, a 1917 regulation under which the blockade of Cuba was imposed — considered the longest in history.
“I hereby determine that the continuation of the exercise of these authorities with respect to Cuba for one year is in the national interest of the United States,” Biden said in the brief memorandum sent to the Treasury Department, published in the Federal Register.
The text stressed that “therefore, consistent with the authority conferred upon me by section 101(b) of Public Law 95-223, I continue for one year, until September 14, 2025, the exercise of those authorities with respect to Cuba, as implemented in the Cuban Assets Control Regulations, 31 C.F.R. Part 515.”
The Trading with the Enemy Act, enacted under President Woodrow Wilson (1913-1921), during the period of the First World War (1914-1918), empowers the government in power in Washington to restrict commercial activities with any nation that they consider an adversary.
Based on this legislation, on February 7, 1962, Democratic President John F. Kennedy issued Executive Order 3447, which officially began an economic, commercial and financial blockade that has survived 11 White House administrations.
