![Reversing a diplomatic opening with Havana under his predecessor Barack Obama, President Donald Trump has tightened restrictions on US travel and remittances to Cuba and imposed sanctions on shipments of Venezuelan oil to the Caribbean island [File: Alexandre Meneghini/Reuters]](/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/cuba.jpg?resize=570%2C380)
During his presidency, Donald Trump took a tough stance on Cuba, tightening restrictions on US travel and remittances.
Cuba
![Mohammed al-Qahtani's case is unusual because there is no dispute the US government mercilessly tortured him [Illustration by Shereen Masoud-Jointe]](/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/masoud.png?resize=570%2C380)
As law students working on Mohammed al-Qahtani’s case, we know his release is a question of humanity, not opinion.
Observers say move in final days of Donald Trump’s administration will complicate Joe Biden’s foreign...
![Cuba had originally been put on the United States' 'state sponsors of terrorism' list in 1982, but was removed by President Barack Obama in 2015 as he sought to improve economic and diplomatic relations with the Communist island nation [File: Pablo Martinez Monsivais/AP Photo]](/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/AP_19076618098762.jpg?resize=570%2C380)
Trump’s move days before he leaves office will make it harder for President-elect Biden to reset...
![US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo accused Banco Financiero International SA of having ties to the Cuban military and using its profits to fund 'interference' in Venezuela [File: Jacquelyn Martin/Pool via AFP]](/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/000_8UY7KW.jpg?resize=270%2C180)
Cuban foreign minister rejects the move as a ‘punitive measure’ that aims to tighten the US blockade against Cuba.
![Cuba's decision to end its longtime dual currency policy is likely to be a painful transition for many Cubans, especially those forced to exchange valuable convertible pesos to less valuable Cuban pesos [File: Ramon Espinosa/AP Photo]](/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/AP20346727310160.jpg?resize=270%2C180)
Cuba is devaluing its peso for the first time since the 1959 revolution with profound consequences for its people.
![To bid adieu to the wild year that was 2020, a ball decked out with 2,688 Waterford Crystal triangles and 32,256 LED lights dropped at midnight, but the thousands of people who usually pack the area were at home because of COVID-19 [File: Frank Franklin II/AP Photo]](/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/AP20365719390430.jpg?resize=270%2C180)
THE WEEK IN NUMBERS
A unified Cuban peso, the Times Square ball and cashless Sweden
We round up the numbers to know from the week’s biggest economic news so you can impress yourself and your friends.
![A man walks by a mural depicting Nicaraguan President Daniel Ortega, in Managua, Nicaragua [File: Stringer/Reuters]](/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/2020-11-23T120039Z_832238065_RC209K9P5SH8_RTRMADP_3_NICARAGUA-POLITICS-ORTEGA.jpg?resize=270%2C180)
The sanctions are the latest from the Trump administration targeting Nicaraguan officials supporting Daniel Ortega.
![The Biden team's rapprochement strategy includes reducing restrictions on travel, investment and remittances for the island nation that are perceived to disproportionately hurt Americans and Cubans, say sources [File: Lisette Poole/Bloomberg]](/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/366722586.jpg?resize=270%2C180)
Biden’s team plans to reverse many sanctions and regulations imposed on Cuba by the Trump administration, sources say.
![Cuba's socialist economy has been hurt by the slump in tourism income since the pandemic began, and was already suffering under the US embargo [File: Yamil Lage/AFP/Getty Images]](/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/366641326.jpg?resize=270%2C180)
Cuba will end its decades-old dual currency system and have a single unified exchange rate of 24 pesos to $1.
![A 1950's-era Buick convertible car drives past the US Embassy in Havana, Cuba, Sunday, March, 17, 2019 [File: Pablo Martinez Monsivais/ AP]](/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/AP_19076618098762.jpg?resize=270%2C180)
The Caribbean island nation aims to attract $2bn to $2.5bn annually to update its state-run economy.
Report commissioned by US Department of State is latest bid to find cause of mysterious illness among diplomats.
![Young artists protest in front of the doors of the Ministry of Culture, in Havana, Cuba on Friday [Ismael Francisco/AP]](/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/AP_20333179698321-1.jpg?resize=270%2C180)
Protesters met Cuban deputy minister Saturday after large public protests decrying curbs to civil liberties.
![View of the Malecon in Havana, Cuba, as Tropical Storm Eta approaches [Yamil Lage/AFP]](/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/000_8UU7VD.jpg?resize=270%2C180)
Tropical storm made landfall in Cuba with maximum sustained winds of 100km/h and was headed for southern Florida.