Marco Rubio warns that sanctions will continue until the regime implements political and economic reforms

Secretary of State Marco Rubio warned this Thursday that the Trump administration will maintain pressure on Cuba until the communist regime implements all necessary political and economic reforms, in a message posted on his official account after announcing new sanctions against the island.

"Today's sanctions show that the Trump administration will not sit idly by while the communist regime in Cuba threatens our national security in our hemisphere. We will continue to take action until the regime adopts all the necessary political and economic reforms," Rubio wrote.

The new sanctions announced this Thursday designated GAESA (Grupo de Administración Empresarial S.A.), the military conglomerate that controls between 40% and 70% of the Cuban formal economy with estimated assets of over 18 billion dollars; Ania Guillermina Lastres Morera, executive director of GAESA; and Moa Nickel S.A., state-owned nickel mining company.

The measures were implemented under the executive order signed by Trump on May 1, entitled "Imposing sanctions on those responsible for repression in Cuba and for threats to national security and foreign policy of the United States."

The impact on the international private sector was immediate. The Canadian company Sherritt International Corp. suspended its direct participation in joint ventures in Cuba on the same day, repatriated its expatriate employees, and saw three of its directors—Brian Imrie, Richard Moat, and Brett Richards—resign. Its stock plummeted by as much as 30%.

The sanctions announced this Thursday are part of a sustained escalation since January 2026 that has seen more than 240 sanctions, the interception of at least seven tankers headed to Cuba, and an 80% to 90% reduction in the island's energy imports.

The impact on the population is devastating: power outages of up to 25 hours a day affect more than 55% of the territory, and The Economist Intelligence Unit projects an economic contraction of 7.2% for Cuba in 2026.

Days earlier, Rubio had been even more direct in describing the situation in Cuba as "unacceptable" and labeling the regime as "incompetent communists who don't know how to fix it." On April 30, he stated that "the deep economic reforms that Cuba needs are impossible under the current regime."

The regime responded with its usual rhetoric. Miguel Díaz-Canel described the measures as a "brutal genocidal blockade" and accused Trump of "moral poverty," while Chancellor Bruno Rodríguez referred to them as "collective punishment of the Cuban people" and "illegal and abusive."

This Thursday, the U.S. also , amid speculation sparked by a viral photo that showed Rubio in front of a map of Cuba during the Conference of Heads of Mission held in Doral, Florida.

Rubio had fueled that uncertainty on Wednesday by stating: “I’m not going to tell you what I discussed with Southern Command, but it had to do with something regarding Cuba.”