II 

118TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 538 

To prohibit the removal of Cuba from the list of state sponsors of terrorism 

until Cuba satisfies certain conditions, and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

FEBRUARY 27, 2023 

Mr. RUBIO (for himself, Mr. CRUZ, and Mr. SCOTT of Florida) introduced the 

following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on 

Foreign Relations 

A BILL 

To prohibit the removal of Cuba from the list of state sponsors of terrorism until Cuba satisfies certain conditions, 

and for other purposes. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLES. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Fighting Oppression 

5 until the Reign of Castro Ends Act’’ or the ‘‘FORCE 

6 Act’’. 

7 SEC. 2. STATEMENT OF POLICY. 

8 It shall be the policy of the United States— 


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1 (1) to support the Cuban people’s desire to hold 

2 free and fair elections, which are supervised by re3 spected international observers that respect the peo4 ple of Cuba’s desire for freedom and democracy; 

5 (2) to encourage the international community 

6 to raise their voices in support of the Cuban people’s 

7 desire to live freely; and 

8 (3) to demand the release of all political pris9 oners in Cuba. 

10 SEC. 3. PROHIBITION ON REMOVAL. 

11 (a) IN GENERAL.—Notwithstanding any other provi12 sion of law, neither the President nor the Secretary of 

13 State may remove Cuba from the list of state sponsors 

14 of terrorism until the President makes the determination 

15 described in section 205 of the Cuban Liberty and Demo16 cratic Solidarity (LIBERTAD) Act of 1996 (22 U.S.C. 

17 6065). 

18 (b) DEFINED TERM.—In this section, the term ‘‘state 

19 sponsor of terrorism’’ means a country the government of 

20 which the Secretary of State determines has repeatedly 

21 provided support for international terrorism pursuant 

22 to— 

23 (1) section 1754(c)(1)(A) of the Export Control 

24 Reform Act of 2018 (50 U.S.C. 4318(c)(1)(A)); 


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1 (2) section 620A of the Foreign Assistance Act 

2 of 1961 (22 U.S.C. 2371); 

3 (3) section 40 of the Arms Export Control Act 

4 (22 U.S.C. 2780); or 

5 (4) any other provision of law. 

6 SEC. 4. REPORT. 

7 (a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 180 days after the 

8 date of the enactment of this Act, the President shall sub9 mit a report to the Committee on Foreign Relations of 

10 the Senate, the Select Committee on Intelligence of the 

11 Senate, the Committee on Foreign Affairs of the House 

12 of Representatives, and the Permanent Select Committee 

13 on Intelligence of the House of Representatives that iden14 tifies all terrorists and fugitives who— 

15 (1)(A) have been convicted for a terrorism-re16 lated offense in a United States court; 

17 (B) fled the United States after being indicted 

18 for a terrorism-related offense, but before standing 

19 trial; or 

20 (C) are members of a foreign terrorist organiza21 tion; and 

22 (2) are being provided safe haven in Cuba. 

23 (b) FORM.—Each report submitted under this section 

24 shall be submitted in unclassified form, but may include 

25 a classified annex. 


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1 SEC. 5. PROHIBITION OF FINANCIAL TRANSACTIONS BENE2 FITTING THE CUBAN REGIME. 

3 (a) IN GENERAL.—No person subject to the jurisdic4 tion of the United States may engage in a direct financial 

5 transaction, including electronic remittances, with any en6 tity or subentity that the Secretary of State, in consulta7 tion with the Secretary of the Treasury, determines to be 

8 under the control of, or acting for or on behalf of, the 

9 Cuban military, intelligence, or security services or per10 sonnel with which direct financial transactions would dis11 proportionately benefit such services or personnel at the 

12 expense of the Cuban people or private enterprise in Cuba. 

13 (b) SENSE OF CONGRESS REGARDING SANCTIONS.— 

14 It is the sense of Congress that the Secretary of the Treas15 ury should expand and tighten sanctions programs to en16 sure beneficial ownership disclosure and material support 

17 clauses to penalize tax havens for entities used by sanc18 tioned countries, as was recently disclosed in the OpenLux 

19 investigation of the Cuban military’s use of destinations 

20 such as Liechtenstein, Luxembourg, and Hong Kong. 

21 SEC. 6. IMPLEMENTATION. 

22 (a) UPDATE AND PUBLICATION OF ENTITY LIST.— 

23 Not later than 90 days after the date of the enactment 

24 of this Act, and annually thereafter, the Secretary of State 

25 shall— 


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1 (1) in furtherance of the regulatory changes de2 scribed in this section, identify the entities or sub3 entities, as appropriate, that are under the control 

4 of, or act for or on behalf of, the Cuban military, in5 telligence, or security services or personnel, including 

6 GAESA, its affiliates, subsidiaries, and successors; 

7 (2) update a list of the entities and subentities 

8 identified pursuant to paragraph (1) with which di9 rect financial transactions would disproportionately 

10 benefit such services or personnel at the expense of 

11 the Cuban people or private enterprise in Cuba; and 

12 (3) make the list updated pursuant to para13 graph (2) available to the public. 

14 (b) LIMITATION.— 

15 (1) PROHIBITED TRANSACTIONS.—Except as 

16 provided in subsection (a) and section 8, the regu17 latory changes described in this section shall prohibit 

18 direct financial transactions with any entity or sub19 entity on the list updated pursuant to subsection 

20 (a)(2). 

21 (2) ALLOWED TRANSACTIONS.—The regulatory 

22 changes described in this section may not prohibit 

23 any transaction that the Secretary of the Treasury 

24 or the Secretary of Commerce, in coordination with 

25 the Secretary of State, determines is consistent with 


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1 the policy of the United States, including trans2 actions concerning— 

3 (A) Federal Government operations, in4 cluding operations at the Naval Station at 

5 Guantanamo Bay and at the United States mis6 sion in Havana; 

7 (B) programs seeking to build democracy 

8 in Cuba; 

9 (C) air and sea operations that support 

10 permissible travel, cargo, or trade; 

11 (D) the acquisition of visas for permissible 

12 travel; 

13 (E) the expansion of direct telecommuni14 cations and internet access for the Cuban peo15 ple; 

16 (F) the sale of agricultural commodities, 

17 medicines, and medical devices sold to Cuba in 

18 accordance with the Trade Sanctions Reform 

19 and Export Enhancement Act of 2000 (22 

20 U.S.C. 7201 et seq.) and the Cuban Democracy 

21 Act of 2002 (22 U.S.C. 6001 et seq.); 

22 (G) sending, processing, or receiving au23 thorized remittances that do not wholly, or in 

24 any part, benefit any entity or subentity on the 

25 list updated pursuant to subsection (a)(2); 


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1 (H) furthering the national security or for2 eign policy interests of the United States; or 

3 (I) any other activity that is required by 

4 law. 

5 (c) PROTECTION OF NATIONAL INTERESTS.—Any ac6 tivity conducted pursuant to subsection (a) or (b) shall 

7 be carried out in a manner that furthers the national in8 terests of the United States, including by appropriately 

9 protecting sensitive sources, methods, and operations of 

10 the Federal Government. 

11 SEC. 7. REPORTING REQUIREMENTS. 

12 (a) DEFINED TERM.—In this section, the term ‘‘ap13 propriate congressional committees’’ means— 

14 (1) the Committee on Foreign Relations of the 

15 Senate; 

16 (2) the Select Committee on Intelligence of the 

17 Senate; 

18 (3) the Committee on Homeland Security and 

19 Governmental Affairs of the Senate; 

20 (4) the Committee on Foreign Affairs of the 

21 House of Representatives; 

22 (5) the Permanent Select Committee on Intel23 ligence of the House of Representatives; and 

24 (6) the Committee on Homeland Security of the 

25 House of Representatives. 


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1 (b) REPORT ON THE INVOLVEMENT OF FIDEL CAS2 TRO, RAU ́L CASTRO, AND MIGUEL D ́IAZ-CANEL IN PUB3 LIC CORRUPTION AND OTHER ILLICIT ACTIVITIES.—Not 

4 later than 60 days after the date of the enactment of this 

5 Act, the Secretary of State, acting through the Bureau 

6 of Intelligence and Research of the Department of State, 

7 and in coordination with the Director of National Intel8 ligence, shall submit a report to the appropriate congres9 sional committees that describes— 

10 (1) significant acts of public corruption in Cuba 

11 that— 

12 (A) involve— 

13 (i) members of El Partido Comunista 

14 de Cuba; or 

15 (ii) senior officials of the Cuban re16 gime, including members of La Asamblea 

17 Nacional del Poder Popular, GAESA, and 

18 the Ministerio del Interior; 

19 (B) pose challenges for United States na20 tional security and regional stability; 

21 (C) impede the realization of freedom of 

22 expression; or 

23 (D) infringe upon the fundamental free24 doms of civil society and political opponents in 

25 Cuba; and 


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1 (2) activities of the Maduro regime in Ven2 ezuela taking place in Cuba, including— 

3 (A) cooperation between Venezuela and 

4 Cuba’s military personnel, intelligence services, 

5 and security forces; 

6 (B) cooperation related to telecommuni7 cations and satellite navigation; 

8 (C) other political and economic coopera9 tion with the Government of Cuba; and 

10 (D) the threats and risks that such activi11 ties pose to United States national interests 

12 and national security. 

13 (c) NOTIFICATION OF ANY ENGAGEMENT OF THE

14 UNITED STATES WITH CUBA.—The Secretary of State, 

15 in coordination with the Secretary of the Treasury, the 

16 Secretary of Defense, the Attorney General, the Secretary 

17 of Commerce, and the Secretary of Homeland Security, 

18 shall notify the appropriate congressional committees of 

19 any engagement of the United States with Cuba not later 

20 than 14 days after such engagement to ensure that such 

21 engagement is advancing the interests of the United 

22 States. 

23 SEC. 8. TERMINATION. 

24 The limitation set forth in section 6(b)(1) shall termi25 nate on the date that is 90 days after the date on which 


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1 the President certifies to Congress that the Government 

2 of Cuba— 

3 (1) has taken the necessary steps to begin an 

4 electoral process that is transparent, free, and fair 

5 in accordance with sections 205 and 206 of the 

6 Cuban Liberty and Democratic Solidarity 

7 (LIBERTAD) Act of 1996 (Public Law 104–114); 

8 and 

9 (2) has met the requirements for the termi10 nation of the economic embargo set forth in section 

11 204 of such Act. 

Æ 


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