US Says It Is Imposing Sanctions on More Cuban Officials

WASHINGTON, DC – The Trump administration says it is imposing more sanctions on Cuban officials in order to “protect US national security and deprive Cuba’s communist regime and military of access to illicit assets”.

Marco RubioUS Secretary of State Marco Rubio, the son of Cuban immigrants, in a statement, said that pursuant to President Trump’s Executive Order  of May 1, 2026, he is designating 11 Cuban regime elites and three government organizations, including government officials and military figures associated with Cuba’s security apparatus”.

Rubio said that many of these people “are responsible for or have been involved in repressing the Cuban people.

“These sanctions advance the Trump administration’s comprehensive campaign to address the pressing national security threats posed by Cuba’s communist regime and to hold accountable both the regime and those who provide it material support.

“Regime-aligned actors such as those designated today bear responsibility for the suffering of the Cuban people, the failing Cuban economy, and the exploitation of Cuba for foreign intelligence, military, and terror operations,” Rubio said.

He said the designations further restrict the Cuban regime’s ability to “suppress the will of the Cuban people,” warning that “additional sanctions actions can be expected in the following days and weeks”.

Rubio said the State Department’s action was being taken pursuant to  Trump’s executive order “which authorizes sweeping sanctions on Cuba, including persons who support the Cuban regime’s security apparatus and those responsible for repression in Cuba and threats to US national security.”

He said this action also furthers both Executive Order 14380, “Addressing Threats to the United States by the Government of Cuba” and National Security Presidential Memorandum 5 (NSPM-5), “which directs the Executive Branch to improve human rights, encourage the rule of law, foster free markets and free enterprise, and promote democracy in Cuba.”

The Department of State said separately that it was sanctioning “11 Cuban regime-aligned actors and three entities in furtherance of the Trump administration’s comprehensive campaign to address the pressing national security threats posed by Cuba’s communist regime and hold accountable the regime and those who provide it material or financial support.”

The State Department said The Ministry of Interior of Cuba (MININT) was designated as “an agency of the Government of Cuba responsible for Cuba’s internal security, to include controlling Cuba’s police, internal security forces, intelligence agencies, and the country’s prison system”>

The department also sanctioned the Policia Nacional Revolucionaria (PNR), which is a police force under MININT accused of operating mobile prisons and violent suppression of protests; and the Directorate of Intelligence of Cuba (DGI), which is the primary intelligence agency of the Government of Cuba under MININT.

In addition, the State Department said several actors were sanctioned for “being or having been a leader, official, senior executive officer, or member of the board of directors of the Government of Cuba or an entity whose property or interests in property are blocked pursuant to E.O. 14404.”

They included Eddy Manuel Sierra Arias, chief of the General Directorate of the PNR; Oscar Alejandro Callejas Valcarce, chief of the Political Directorate of the concurrently designated MININT and the former director of the also concurrently designated PNR; Rosabel Gamon Verde, the Minister of Justice of Cuba; Joaquin Quintas Sola, and Deputy Minister of Cuba’s Revolutionary Armed Forces.

Rubio said that, as a result of  sanctions-related actions, “all property and interests in property of the designated persons that are in the United States or in possession or control of US persons are blocked and must be reported to the Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC).”

Additionally, the US Secretary of State said all entities that are “owned individually or in the aggregate, 50 percent or more by one or more blocked persons are also blocked.”

On May 7, Rubio said the Trump administration was imposing sanctions on Cuba’s military and elites.

He said the administration’s sanctions were aimed at depriving Cuba’s government and military of “access to illicit assets.”

Rubio said he “designated” Grupo de Administracion Empresarial S.A. (GAESA) for “operating or having operated in the financial services sector of the Cuban economy.”

Rubio charged that GAESA, a Cuban military-controlled umbrella enterprise, is “the heart of Cuba’s kleptocratic communist system.

“Controlling an estimated 40 percent or more of the island’s economy, GAESA is involved in various sectors of the Cuban economy and is designed to generate income not for the Cuban people, but only for the benefit of its corrupt elites.

“While the Cuban people suffer from hunger, disease and chronic under-investment in critical infrastructure such as its power grid, much of the proceeds of GAESA’s activities are funneled away to hidden overseas bank accounts,” Rubio added.

In addition, the US Secretary of State, claimed that MNSA, a joint venture between Sherritt International Corporation and the Cuban state-owned La Compania General de Niquel, “has exploited Cuba’s natural resources to benefit the regime at the expense of the Cuban people.”

“It profits from assets that were originally expropriated by the Cuban regime from US persons and corporations,” he said.