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The president of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, Republican Senator Jim Risch (Idaho), supported this Monday the new executive order from Trump against Cuba and accused the regime of posing direct threats to U.S. national security.
"I am pleased to see that the Trump Administration continues to hold the corrupt Cuban communist regime accountable for both the national security threats it poses to the United States and its repression against the Cuban people," wrote Risch.
The statement comes days after President Donald Trump signed, last Friday, a new executive order that expands sanctions against the Cuban government, stating that its actions pose "an unusual and extraordinary threat" to the national security and foreign policy of the United States.
A White House official warned that "Cuba provides a permissive environment for hostile operations by foreign intelligence, military, and terrorist groups less than 100 miles from U.S. territory."
The measure freezes all assets and interests in U.S. territory of individuals and entities connected to the Cuban government, and for the first time introduces secondary sanctions against foreign financial institutions that facilitate transactions with the sanctioned parties.
Additionally, the order prohibits entry into the United States for current and former officials of the regime, their collaborators, and adult family members, except for national interest exceptions.
Other Republican lawmakers also supported the measure.
The representative María Elvira Salazar described the alignment of the Cuban regime with Iran as «a national security reality just 90 miles from our shores, not speculation», while representative Carlos A. Giménez warned that «if it continues to operate in bad faith, there will be much harsher consequences».
The representative Nicole Malliotakis was more direct: "For decades, Cuba has harbored our fugitives, provided a safe haven for terrorists and adversaries, and oppressed and even eliminated its own people."
The legislative support for the maximum pressure strategy was reinforced last Tuesday, April 29, when the Senate rejected by a vote of 51 to 47 a Democratic initiative to limit Trump's military actions against Cuba.
Since January 2025, the Trump administration has imposed more than 240 sanctions against the regime and intercepted at least seven tankers headed to the island, resulting in devastating consequences for the Cuban economy: blackouts lasting up to 25 hours a day in over 55% of the territory and a projected economic contraction of 7.2% for 2026, according to The Economist Intelligence Unit.
The Secretary of State Marco Rubio has also warned that Washington will not allow any foreign security apparatus to operate with impunity 90 miles from U.S. territory, in line with the position now supported by Risch from the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.
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