The Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced this Thursday new sanctions against the Cuban military conglomerate GAESA, one of its executives, and a state mining company, as part of the Trump administration's maximum pressure campaign against the Havana regime.
The sanctions were imposed under the executive order signed by Trump on May 1, titled "Imposition of Sanctions on Those Responsible for Repression in Cuba and Threats to National Security and Foreign Policy of the United States."
The three designated entities are Grupo de Administración Empresarial S.A. (GAESA), the executive Ania Guillermina Lastres Morera, and the mining company Moa Nickel S.A. (MNSA).
Rubio described GAESA as "the heart of Cuba's kleptocratic communist system," a conglomerate controlled by the Revolutionary Armed Forces that dominates between 40% and 70% of the Cuban formal economy, including hotels, ports, remittances, and foreign trade.
Lastres Morera is or has been a senior member of the board of directors of GAESA, according to the announcement from the Department of State.
Regarding Moa Nickel S.A., Rubio stated that "it has exploited Cuba's natural resources to benefit the regime at the expense of the Cuban people" and that "it profits from assets that were originally expropriated by the Cuban regime from American citizens and corporations."
The Canadian mining company Sherritt International, a partner of Moa Nickel, had already suspended operations in February due to a lack of fuel, with no date for resumption, and this Thursday suspended its operations in Cuba following Trump's sanctions, depriving the regime of its largest mining partner and 10-15% of its electricity generation.
The announcement comes days after the State Department began to assign personnel to the U.S. Southern Command in Miami in anticipation of possible hostilities with Cuba, according to a source cited by Axios.
The State Department is also reinforcing its disaster preparedness supply center in South Florida.
This Wednesday, Rubio was photographed in front of a map of Cuba at the Southern Command in Doral, Florida, where he presided over the 2026 Conference of Chiefs of Mission alongside the mission chief in Cuba, Mike Hammer, and General Francis L. Donovan.
Rubio stated that these sanctions "are part of the comprehensive campaign of the Trump administration to address the urgent national security threats posed by the communist regime of Cuba and to hold the regime and those who provide it with material or financial support accountable."
He added that "just 90 miles from U.S. territory, the Cuban regime has driven the island to ruin and has auctioned it off as a platform for foreign intelligence, military, and terrorist operations."
Since January 2026, the U.S. has accumulated more than 240 sanctions against the Cuban regime and intercepted at least seven tankers, reducing the island's energy imports by between 80% and 90%.
Neither Trump nor Rubio have ruled out military action, and the Secretary of State warned that "additional designations can be expected in the coming days and weeks."
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