The senior officials’ comments further signaled that President Joe Biden was not ready to soften the US approach after his predecessor, Donald Trump, rolled back a historic Obama-era détente with Havana, and that the latest Cuban unrest would have a significant impact on any policy moves.
The officials, speaking to Reuters on condition of anonymity, also made clear that the Biden administration is still seeking ways to ease the humanitarian plight of the Cuban people while keeping pressure on the Communist-led government in Havana.
Biden said last week he was not prepared to loosen restrictions for now on remittances, or payments that Americans can make to their families on the island, because of concern that the Cuban government would seize a large part of the funds.
But Washington is looking closely at crafting a possible work-around to restore the flow of remittances, which were shut down under Trump, in a way that does not put money in the hands of the Cuban government, one of the State Department officials said.
The official declined to elaborate but suggested it would take time to develop such a mechanism, saying: “I wouldn't anticipate a short-term loosening."
Thousands of Cubans staged spontaneous anti-government protests a week ago to demonstrate against an economic crisis that has seen shortages of basic goods and power outages. They were also protesting the government's handling of the coronavirus pandemic and curbs on civil liberties. Scores of activists were detained.
The Cuban government has blamed the protests mostly on US-financed "counter-revolutionaries" exploiting economic hardship caused by US sanctions.