U.S. Imposes New Sanctions Against Cuban Regime Officials and Entities

The U.S. government announced Monday new sanctions against senior officials and institutions of the Cuban regime, pursuant to Executive Order 14404,

signed on May 1, which authorizes measures against individuals and entities linked to repression in Cuba and threats to U.S. national security and foreign policy.

According

to the State Department, the sanctions target 11 members of Cuba's political and military elite, as well as three state institutions related to security, intelligence, and internal repression.

Washington stated

that all sanctioned targets are linked to the Cuban state control apparatus.

The sanctioned entities include Cuba's Ministry of Interior (MININT), identified

as the agency responsible for internal security, intelligence, and the prison system; the National Revolutionary Police (PNR), accused of suppressing protests and operating "mobile prisons"; and the Directorate of Intelligence (DI), the Cuban government's principal spy agency.

U.S. authorities indicated

that the new measures expand previous designations made under the Global Magnitsky Act.

The list of sanctioned officials

includes Eddy Manuel Sierra Arias, chief of the PNR's General Directorate; Oscar Alejandro Callejas Valcarce, chief of MININT's Political Directorate and former PNR director; Rosabel Gamón Verde, Minister of Justice; Joaquín Quintas Solá, Vice Minister of the Revolutionary Armed Forces; and Juan Esteban Lazo Hernández, president of the National Assembly of People's Power (ANPP).

Also sanct

ioned were Vicente de la O Levy, Minister of Energy and Mines; Mayra Arevich Marín, Minister of Communications; José Miguel Gómez del Vallín, chief of Military Counterintelligence; Raúl Villar Kessell, commander of the Central Army; Roberto Morales Ojeda, member of the Political Bureau and secretary of Organization of the Communist Party's Central Committee; and Eugenio Rabilero Aguilera, commander of the Eastern Army.

The State Department explained that as

a result of these measures, all property and interests of sanctioned individuals and entities located in U.S. territory or under the control of U.S. citizens or companies are blocked. Additionally, any entity in which the sanctioned individuals own, directly or indirectly, at least 50 percent will also be automatically blocked.

Washington also warned that

transactions by U.S. citizens with the sanctioned officials and institutions are prohibited, except with express authorization from the Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) of the Treasury Department.

The U.S. administration also alerted foreign companies and financial institutions to the risk of exposure

to secondary sanctions if they maintain operations with persons or entities designated under Executive Order 14404, particularly in sectors deemed strategic for the Cuban government, such as energy, defense, mining, financial services, and security.

"For over 60 years, the Cuban regime has prioritized its communist ideology and personal enrichment over the welfare of its own citizens, while allowing Cuba

to be exploited for foreign intelligence, military, and terrorist operations. The United States will continue taking measures to counter the Cuban regime, those who advance its objectives, and those from abroad who enable the elite to enrich themselves while the Cuban people suffer," they added.

Days earlier, the Treasury Department's OFAC added Ania Guillermina Lastres Morera, Brigadier General and current executive president of GAESA (Business Administration Group S.A.), the military conglomerate that controls much of the Cuban economy, including strategic sectors such as tourism, finance, retail trade, and real estate companies, to the SDN (Specially Designated Nationals) list.

It also

added to that list the mining company Moa Nickel S.A. (MNSA), a key entity in the exploitation of nickel and cobalt in Cuba.