Cuban Embargo: Selected Issues Relating to Travel, Exports, and Telecommunications

Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO reviewed the implementation and monitoring of certain Cuban embargo provisions affecting travel, telecommunications, and trade, focusing on: (1) whether the Department of the Treasury, Office of Foreign Asset Control's (OFAC) decision to allow authorized U.S. travelers to fly indirectly to Cuba was consistent with the law; (2) whether a telecommunications agreement between International Telephone and Telegraph (ITT) and STET International was consistent with U.S. law; (3) how U.S. products can be available in Cuba; (4) how U.S. agencies license and monitor U.S. travelers and companies, including licensed air carrier providers, and exports that are affected by the embargo's restrictions; and (5) whether the executive branch's changes to the embargo in 1998 were consistent with U.S. law.