As part of an effort to crack down on business relationships with Cuba and strike at the heart of the communist government, the Tax Collector’s Office of Miami-Dade has revoked key licenses of more than two dozen companies that allegedly do business in Cuba, according to enforcement letters seen by WLRN.
The letters — sent in October and November and obtained through a public records request — show that various travel, shipping and remittance companies have been shut down.
Letters sent in October demanded that many businesses respond with specific federal licenses that they hold showing that they were in compliance with the federal law. The companies were given three days to respond.
Twenty-six companies, however, did not respond and their licenses were revoked in November follow-up letters.
The highest concentration of affected businesses is in Hialeah — ten of the companies are located there. Another six are in Miami, while four are in Doral.
“As a Cuban emigrant, I know firsthand the suffering inflicted by the Cuban communist regime. That regime has been, is, and will continue to be a threat to the national security of the United States, and Miami-Dade County will not be used as a platform to finance or sustain it,” said Tax Collector Dariel Fernandez in a statement on Monday.
READ MORE: Cuba’s leaders see their options dim amid blackouts and a shrinking economy
But Fernandez’s actions are blatantly "political," and should not be taken seriously, said a prominent proponent of business engagement with Cuba.
“It reads to me like a fiscal drive-by. He was spraying away trying to see how many of these companies he could take down through legal technicality,” Ricardo Herrero, the executive director of pro-engagement Cuba Study Group, told WLRN.
“This feels a little weaponized. It doesn't feel like we’re trying to do this crackdown on illicit activity.”
Many businesses conduct business in Cuba using a “general” license, meaning that there is no specific license given by the federal government. Therefore, there was no specific license that could be shown to Fernandez's office.
WLRN is not publishing the names of the companies because it is unclear if they have in fact violated any laws.
“I understand that local officials and folks have strong feelings about Cuba, and some feel strongly about engaging and not engaging, but that’s not really a local decision,” Augusto Maxwell, an attorney for law firm Akerman that helps businesses that engage with Cuba, told WLRN.
“It really rests with the Office of Foreign Assets Control. And for better or worse it has a set of regulations that provides for general licenses.”
"This is just the beginning. We will act with firmness, responsibility, and unwavering respect for the rule of law."Miami-Dade Tax Collector Dariel Fernandez.
US-based businesses that conduct trade with Cuba under a “general” license are only required by the federal government to keep records of all transactions for ten years, and enforcement of those regulations is done through federal audits, said Maxwell.
A smattering of federal, state and local laws purport to regulate business dealings with Cuba, possibly leading to conflicting interpretations.
Federal law allows businesses to facilitate gifts and donations to Cuba that can include all types of foods and medicines. A Miami-Dade County ordinance specifies that local authorities can revoke licenses if a company does business with Cuba “in violation of federal law.” Florida law, on the other hand, says that local authorities can revoke business licenses of any company that “is doing business with Cuba,” without specifying that the business is violating federal law.
In this case, the federal government has not conducted audits of the listed companies to determine that they were breaking federal law. But Fernandez’s office still stripped them of business licenses, citing the state law that ostensibly allows him to do so.
“Conducting business with Cuba under these authorizations by the federal government just is — you don’t need additional authorization from state or local governments,” said Maxwell. “The federal statutes will preempt those local provisions.”
'More businesses will be notified'
The original letter sent to businesses made no mention of “general” licenses. A press release sent by Fernandez’s office on Monday did mention them.
Fernandez’s office did not respond to interview requests.
In a statement, his office said any company that has had its Local Business Tax license revoked can no longer legally do business in Miami-Dade County. He said more letters are to come and more businesses are to be shut down.
“In the coming weeks, more businesses will be notified, and those that do not comply with the requirements will have their Local Business Tax revoked. This is just the beginning. Our investigations will continue, and my office will not hesitate to take further action where the law requires it. We will act with firmness, responsibility, and unwavering respect for the rule of law,” Fernandez said in a statement.
Private businesses — many with connections in South Florida — are playing an increasingly outsized role in the Cuban economy. For the first time since the early 1960s, private businesses are importing more food and goods to Cuba than the communist government. Likewise, private retailers on the island are now selling more than government-run businesses since the early days of the Cuban Revolution.
Conditions on the island are rapidly deteriorating, with the government unable to keep up with demand for electricity supply and a public health crisis known as “El Virus” — what happens when someone contracts chikungunya, dengue and Oropouche at the same time — sweeping across the island.
As the government has found itself unable to respond to cascading catastrophes, private business networks have expanded to address the crisis. Many families routinely send help to loved ones through private companies based in Florida, including food and medicines.
“For many Cuban-Americans in Miami, these businesses provide a cheap conduit through which they can support their families back home,” said Herrero. “By and large these businesses exist because they are legal under US law and regulation. US laws and regulations, mind you, that South Florida politicians, in their time, helped draft.”
“It is still very good politics to promise to tighten the screws on the Cuban regime... even if [it] doesn't yield any new results whatsoever."Ricardo Herrero, the executive director of pro-engagement Cuba Study Group.
Herrero said the efforts to crack down on Cuban trade from Florida stand to damage the leverage of private enterprise over the government during the crisis. He said he sees Fernandez’s move as purely political, trying to score political points for a conservative base that does not accept that dynamics of relations with Cuba are rapidly evolving due to increased private sector involvement.
Fernandez, a Republican, became the first elected tax collector in Miami-Dade County when he was voted into office in 2024.
“It is still very good politics to promise to tighten the screws on the Cuban regime. They are always looking for another way to show to their base that they are doing exactly that, even if this new approach doesn’t yield any new results whatsoever. What’s important is the virtue-signalling,” said Herrero. “It’s sending a message to my supporters: 'Vote for me because I will tighten the screws and this is how I’m doing it.'”
In the long term, the efforts are unlikely to stop businesses from trading with Cuba, said Herrero. Businesses that have been shut down can merely move across county lines and reopen.
“What it will probably do is drive a lot of this activity into the black market or off-county. That doesn’t mean it will stop happening,” said Herrero. “So it’s hard to say what will come of this beyond boosting the profile of a certain elected official.”
