PHOTO: The Old City in Havana. (Photo by David Cogswell)

The unavailability of banking services for the Cuban consular services in the U.S. will not have any noticeable effect on travelers to Cuba, predicted Tom Popper, president of Insight Cuba. But at the same time, he suggested, if you want to go to Cuba, go while you can. You never know what will happen when it comes to travel to Cuba.  

The Cuban Interests Section in Washington D.C., which handles consular services in the U.S., will lose its banking services in the U.S. on March 1 when M&T Bank, which had been providing banking services, will terminate its account.

Tour operators have been well prepared for the closing and have secured visas for their customers for months in advance, so the cut off will not affect them for months. But it will affect other services and functions of the Cuban government in the U.S.

It is hard for Cuba to find a bank willing to provide banking services because the regulations on doing business with sanctioned countries are “onerous,” Popper said. In the past some banks have gotten caught up in mistakes that cost them dearly under the strict regulatory regime, so it is not an attractive business. But the problems will be resolved, Popper said, because it is in the interests of both governments that certain functions remain on course.

“The banking issues are greater than travel issues,” said Popper. “Cuban Mission to the United Nations, which acts as the embassy to the United Nations in New York, and the Cuban Interest Section, which acts as an embassy and consulate between the United States and Cuba in Washington, D.C., need money to function. Without banking services, they will have to shut down talks that happen daily. So they will find a solution.”

The essential functions are too important, to the U.S. government as well as to the Cuban government, to be allowed to shut down, said Popper. And therefore the governments will find a solution. Other issues more pressing than travel will force the matter to a head.

“But this just underscores that you should go,” said Popper. “This is the situation of the year. Every year it’s something. In 2012 there was a licensing shutdown. In 2011 the Omnibus appropriations bill at one point had language that would have rolled back changes made under Obama, back to what it was under Bush. It was a threat to family-related travel.”

The Obama administration in 2009 made changes that allowed Cuban family members to return to Cuba for visits any time, Popper said. Under Bush they could only go once every three years.

“In 2003 Bush carved out the whole section of People to People travel,” said Popper. “It’s always under threat.”