S. 488: DEMOCRACIA Act

Denying Earnings to the Military Oligarchy in Cuba and Restricting Activities of the Cuban Intelligence Apparatus Act or the DEMOCRACIA Act

This bill provides for asset- and visa-blocking sanctions for conduct relating to Cuba. It also establishes an interagency task force to facilitate access to uncensored internet in Cuba.

The President must sanction foreign persons that engage in a transaction with or provide financial, material, or technological support to certain entities or individuals, including

• specified Cuban government sectors (e.g., the defense sector);
• any other government sector that the President certifies is involved in human rights abuses or terrorism;
• foreign persons that are military contractors or mercenaries operating on behalf of the Cuban government; or
• foreign persons that violate laws restricting trade with Cuba.

Other individuals or entities the President must sanction include

• foreign persons responsible for or complicit in human rights abuses in Cuba;
• Cuban officials responsible for or complicit in corruption; and
• members of Cuba's Communist Party.

The bill provides certain exceptions to these sanctions and the President may waive the sanctions in the interest of U.S. national security. The President may not license sanctionable conduct. U.S. persons seeking to engage in a sanctionable financial transaction must submit a written request to the Department of the Treasury's Office of Foreign Asset Control.

The authority to impose sanctions under this bill ends when the President certifies that the Cuban government has taken specified steps to promote political rights and freedoms and Congress enacts a joint resolution approving the certification.