Teresa Amarelle Boué, Secretary General of the Federation of Cuban Women (FMC) and member of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of Cuba, accused the United States of wanting to "terrorize the entire world" through the sanctions imposed on the Cuban regime, in statements disseminated on social media by the General Directorate of Health of Sancti Spíritus.
Amarelle's words come in the wake of an unprecedented escalation of pressure measures by the Trump administration against the Cuban dictatorship, which includes secondary sanctions capable of affecting companies and banks from third countries that engage in business with the island.
The immediate trigger was the Executive Order 14404, signed by Trump on May 1, titled "Imposition of Sanctions on Those Responsible for Repression in Cuba and Threats to National Security and U.S. Foreign Policy."
That order expands OE 14380 from January 29, 2026, which declared a "national emergency" due to the actions of the regime and classified Cuba as an "unusual and extraordinary threat" to the United States.
OE 14404 freezes the assets of Cuban officials and entities in U.S. territory, sanctions the energy, defense, metals and mining, and financial services sectors, and extends measures to adult family members of those designated.
The most disruptive component is the secondary sanctions: any foreign financial institution that facilitates transactions with those sanctioned loses access to correspondent accounts on Wall Street, which effectively forces banks and companies around the world to choose between Cuba and the U.S. financial system.
On May 7, Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced specific designations that included the Business Administration Group S.A. (GAESA) —the military conglomerate that controls between 40% and 70% of the Cuban economy—, its CEO Ania Guillermina Lastres Morera, and the mining company Moa Nickel S.A.
Foreign companies have until June 5 to cease operations with GAESA under the threat of secondary sanctions.
Amarelle's argument about "terrorizing the world" precisely points to that mechanism: by penalizing any global actor that engages with sanctioned Cuban entities, Washington would be using its financial dominance to coerce third parties, not just Cuba.
This narrative is consistent with the official rhetoric of the regime. Chancellor Bruno Rodríguez Parrilla described the measures as a "blockade squared" with unprecedented secondary sanctions. Meanwhile, the leader Miguel Díaz-Canel spoke of a "brutal genocidal blockade" and accused Trump of "moral poverty." The MINREX accused the U.S. of wanting to "provoke an explosion in Cuba" with the sanctions.
Amarelle herself had previously described the sanctions as a "sustained crime against the human rights of Cuban women" and "not a policy, but a systematic aggression against our rights," according to statements reported by the Xinhua agency on April 8.
The FMC had already organized national demonstrations on April 7 under the slogan "All Against the Blockade," with hundreds of women gathering in the Mariana Grajales Park in Havana and in municipalities across the country.
Since January 2026, the U.S. has imposed more than 240 sanctions against the Cuban regime, which the island's government describes as Trump's 243rd action against Cuba. In this context, Amarelle summarized the official position with a phrase she has been repeating for months: "Presidents change, but the blockade remains."
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