The Trump administration expanded sanctions on Cuba by targeting state-owned companies linked to the military-run GAESA conglomerate.
Washington — The United States on Tuesday imposed sanctions on five Cuban state-owned entities — including three linked to the military-run conglomerate Grupo de Administración Empresarial S.A. (GAESA) — and designated a member of the Castro family by marriage, escalating pressure on Havana as the Trump administration intensifies its campaign against the island’s government.
In a statement, the U.S. State Department said the measures are part of broader efforts to counter what it described as the Cuban regime’s “malign activities” both domestically and throughout the Western Hemisphere.
Among the newly sanctioned entities are financial institutions Rafin and Banco Financiero Internacional (BFI), which Secretary of State Marco Rubio said help move funds on behalf of the Cuban government. Also sanctioned was Almacenes Universales, a logistics and port-services company affiliated with GAESA, the powerful military-controlled business conglomerate that dominates large segments of Cuba’s economy.
The sanctions also target Empresa Siderúrgica José Martí, Cuba’s largest steel producer, which was recently modernized with Russian financing, and GeoMinera, a state-owned mining company that manages non-nickel metallic mineral assets and has attracted investment from Australian-based Antilles Gold and other foreign partners.
In addition, Washington sanctioned Annalie Lilliam Rueda Cardero, the wife of Alejandro Castro Espín, the son of former Cuban leader Raúl Castro and a former intelligence chief.
The latest measures follow previous sanctions imposed on Cuban President Miguel Díaz-Canel and Castro Espín and come amid growing tensions between Washington and Havana.
“The situation in Cuba continues to deteriorate as the island’s corrupt, brutal and anti-American communist regime prioritizes its grip on power over the freedom, opportunity and basic well-being of the Cuban people,” Rubio wrote on social media platform X.
Rubio also accused GAESA of serving as a vehicle through which members of Cuba’s ruling elite divert scarce national resources toward repression, intelligence activities and anti-U.S. operations.
The State Department warned that foreign banks, companies and service providers doing business with the sanctioned entities could themselves face penalties under U.S. law.
The sanctions represent the latest step in President Donald Trump’s effort to increase economic pressure on Cuba, which is already grappling with a deep economic crisis, fuel shortages and widespread power outages. The measures build on restrictions announced earlier this year targeting foreign firms operating in Cuba’s energy, defense, mining and financial sectors.
