The truth about US sanctions on Zimbabwe – even Western Union and Coca Cola are affected

According to IEEPA the US President may deal with “any unusual and extraordinary threat” by investigating, regulating, or prohibiting any transactions in foreign exchange, transfers of credit or payments between, by, through, or to any banking institution, to the extent that such transfers or payments involve any interest of any foreign country or a national thereof; the importing or exporting of currency or securities, by any person, or with respect to any property, subject to the jurisdiction of the United States.

These sanctions, however, do not apply only to the listed entities but also to US companies operating in Zimbabwe such as Coca Cola, Universal Leaf Tobacco, Pannar, Pioneer Seeds and Western Union because they have to apply for licences to trade in Zimbabwe and have to be cleared by the Office of Foreign Assets and Control (OFAC) which implements sanctions against Zimbabwe.

Even United States lawyers wanting to represent those on the sanctions list have to be cleared by OFAC.

The Insider obtained this evidence when it asked OFAC under the Freedom of Information Act what the effects of sanctions on Zimbabwe had been and whether any companies or individuals had been adversely affected.

The documents were heavily redacted to “protect” sensitive information.

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