United States Sanctions Cuba’s Ministry of Tourism
and entities involved in fuel imports
The list also includes companies linked to exports and organizations connected to the State Security apparatus of political and ideological control.
HAVANA TIMES — The US State Department announced on Monday that several Cuban entities have been added to the Specially Designated Nationals list maintained by the Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) of the US Treasury Department. This time, Cuba’s Ministry of Tourism is the highest-ranking entity affected, accompanied by companies involved in exporting goods and importing fuel.
The new round of sanctions targets four major sectors. Alongside the Ministry of Tourism is Caudal, the insurance and financial services group made up of eight companies, including Cubacontrol, which specializes in inspections. Caudal belongs to the military-run conglomerate Gaesa.
Among the companies sanctioned for fuel imports are Coreydan S.A. and Enetec S.A., two Havana-based firms engaged in the wholesale trade and sale of solid, liquid, and gaseous fuels. According to Bloomberg, Coreydan was responsible for shipping $60 million worth of hydrocarbons from Mexico to Cuba in 2023. Mexican media reported that the state-owned company shared headquarters in Havana with the Cuba-Petroleum Union (Cupet) at 552 Amistad Street in Central Havana. However, when 14ymedio visited the address at the time, none of the building’s residents had ever heard of the company.
Another significant category includes entities penalized for their export activities. These include Corporacion Antillana Exportadora S.A. (Antex), which is linked to Gaesa and is responsible for exporting Cuban professional services abroad, including doctors, engineers, and technicians. The company has had a significant presence in Angola.
Also included on the list are the Foreign Trade Business Group (Gecomex), which oversees the import and export of goods, and the Maritime Port Transportation Business Group (Gemar), which controls the country’s port infrastructure, shipping, freight services, and maritime logistics operations. Gemar oversees Coral Marítima S.A., the company that took over the assets of the Mariel Container Terminal after it was removed from the military conglomerate Gaesa.
The final group consists of organizations associated with Cuba’s political, military, and State Security apparatus. First is the Association of Combatants of the Cuban Revolution, which represents military veterans and former internationalist fighters and operates under the direction of the Communist Party to ensure political loyalty among retired military personnel.
Also sanctioned are the Territorial Troops Militia, paramilitary forces subordinate to the Ministry of the Revolutionary Armed Forces that are tasked with controlling the population, and the Rapid Response Brigades, coordinated by State Security to monitor citizens and suppress protesters and political dissidents.
This latest round of sanctions comes nearly three weeks after the previous one, which added other Cuban state entities linked to Gaesa to the list, including Almacenes Universales S.A., Banco Financiero Internacional (BFI), Geominera S.A., the Jose Martí Steel Company (Antillana de Acero), and Rafin S.A.
That earlier package also included additional members of the Castro family, a group that continues to grow but still does not include—at least for now—Raúl Guillermo Rodríguez Castro, grandson of Raúl Castro and the government’s designated negotiator in talks between Cuba and the United States.
Last Saturday, marking the anniversary of the massive July 11, 2021 protests, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said in a statement that theTrump administration would continue using “every tool” at its disposal against the Cuban government, which he accused of posing a threat to US national security and refusing to undertake the reforms the island needs.
“Cuba’s leaders simply must choose to commit to genuine reforms, peace, and prosperity before it is too late,” Rubio said.
From Havana, Cuban Foreign Minister Bruno Rodríguez responded to the new sanctions in a social media post, arguing that the US government “continues to intensify its war against the Cuban people, their living conditions, and their sources of livelihood.” He added that the measures are “clear evidence of the criminal and genocidal intent”with which Washington seeks, in his view, “to punish the entire population of the country.”
Hours later, Cuban President Miguel Diaz-Canel also reacted on social media, saying the new sanctions are part of “the US war and its determination to strangle our economy.” He added that Washington “is escalating its aggression in an effort to inflict greater harm on the Cuban people” and asserted that Cuba is facing “a genocidal plan,” which, he said, the government denounced before the United Nations less than a week ago.
First published in Spanish by 14ymedio and translated and posted in English by Havana Times.