The Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) of the US Department of the Treasury administers and enforces economic and trade sanctions based on US foreign policy and national security goals against targeted foreign countries and regimes, terrorists, international narcotics traffickers, those engaged in activities related to the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction, and other threats to the national security, foreign policy or economy of the United States. OFAC acts under Presidential national emergency powers, as well as authority granted by specific legislation, to impose controls on transactions and freeze assets under US jurisdiction. Many of the sanctions are based on United Nations and other international mandates, are multilateral in scope, and involve close cooperation with allied governments.
Baseball and Cuba are synonymous. Cuba has been known to develop top talent in Major League Baseball. Such names include Rafael Palmeiro, Jose Canseco, Minnie Miñoso, and Camilo Pascual. However, given the lack of diplomatic relations between the United States and Cuba it has been difficult for Cuban nationals to represent their homeland. When a player decides to defect from Cuba, he has made his choice between the two countries. Today, top Cuban Major League players include Yoenis Céspedes, Aroldis Chapman, and Leonys Martin. In order to sign with a major league team these Cuban baseball players had to first present either an unblocking license from the U.S. Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) or two permanent residency documents from another country. See 31 C.F.R. 515.505 below:
(a) General license unblocking certain persons. The following persons are licensed as unblocked nationals, as that term is defined in § 515.307 of this part:
(1) Any individual who:
(i) Has taken up residence in the United States;
(ii) Is a United States citizen, a permanent resident alien of the United States, or has applied to become a permanent resident alien of the United States and has an adjustment of status application pending; and
(iii) Is not a specially designated national; and
(2) Any entity that otherwise would be a national of Cuba solely because of the interest therein of an individual licensed in paragraph (a)(1) of this section as an unblocked national.
(b) Specific licenses unblocking certain individuals who have taken up permanent residence outside of Cuba. Individual nationals of Cuba who have taken up permanent residence outside of Cuba may apply to the Office of Foreign Assets Control to be specifically licensed as unblocked nationals. Applications for specific licenses under this paragraph should include copies of at least two documents indicating permanent residence issued by the government authorities of the new country of permanent residence, such as a passport, voter registration card, permanent resident alien card, or national identity card. In cases where two of such documents are not available, other information will be considered, such as evidence that the individual has been resident for the past two years without interruption in a single country outside of Cuba or evidence that the individual does not intend to, or would not be welcome to, return to Cuba.
For more information regarding OFAC as it relates to baseball contact us at 347-512-9007.
