Санкции США против Кубы вынудили бelfastский бизнес закрыть доставку на Deliveroo

A Belfast food business says it has become an unlikely casualty of President Donald Trump’s sanctions on Cuba, with the owner of Cuban Sandwich Factory claiming the measures have disrupted Deliveroo payments and forced the company off the platform. The Trump administration has recently tightened sanctions on Cuba, saying the measures are aimed at limiting support for the Cuban government. The Cuban Sandwich Factory, on Callender Street in Belfast city centre, sells fresh Cuban-style sandwiches and has built a large online customer base through Deliveroo. Carlos Arguelles, the Cuban owner of the shop, says they started working with the delivery service in 2014, two years after opening in 2012. Mr Arguelles told The Irish News that the payment problems appear to follow a pattern seen when President Trump is in office. “It has happened before during the first Trump administration. Now it is happening again. They have stopped lodging the payments to my bank. I have staff that work solely to prepare Deliveroo orders, so it’s putting my business in jeopardy,” he said. Mr Arguelles believes the latest US sanctions on Cuba may be indirectly linked to the issues he has experienced, simply because the shop carries the country’s name. He added: “My representative for Deliveroo said to me he is 100% sure that it has to do with America and President Trump’s new sanction against Cuba. This is because I had to provide proof that I’m a resident here in the UK and I have nothing to do with the Cuban government. I sent all that information, they sent two payments, so I thought it was sorted, but it is still an issue. “It’s affecting my business. They have no right to take action like this. It has been going on since mid-June. “The money’s there, so they’re going to pay me. The problem is that I don’t know when they’re going to pay me. I am still waiting on over £7,000 and that is without checking this week’s orders.” In a social media post, the businessman announced he was suspending all Deliveroo orders due to ongoing payment issues. Although he stressed, he does not blame Deliveroo, he believes US sanctions on Cuba are having wider repercussions. Speaking to The Irish News, he continued: “I have had to stop dealing with Deliveroo, because I cannot keep buying stock, so it’s impacting my suppliers. I had to tell staff today to not come to work. There’s no job for them. They’re not happy about that. I‘ll not sack them, I will try to accommodate, I just don’t know how right now. “If I don’t find the solution, the business will drop in revenue. Deliveroo is a very strong platform for us. We have a good base of customers there. If they all come into my very small shop, I will not cope, we don’t have the capacity. “Deliveroo would pay me weekly, so if they were to pay me back weekly, that’s across five weeks, I can’t afford that... I have rent to pay, rates to pay, products to pay, all on time. I’ve been complaining to them every single week and can’t get good communication, which is a big concern for me. “It’s not Deliveroo’s fault, they’re taking the orders. I don’t know if they‘re getting paid. I just know I am not getting paid.” Deliveroo UK has been contacted for comment.