The U.S. Treasury Secretary, Scott Bessent, warned on Thursday that sanctions against Cuba may tighten or loosen depending on the behavior of the Cuban government, in a statement that encapsulates the maximum pressure strategy maintained by the Trump administration on the island.
Bessent made the statements during a press conference at the White House in response to a question from journalist Cristina Donoño of Telemundo Network regarding the effectiveness of the Treasury's restrictions and whether there were plans to modify them.
"That will depend on the Cuban government. They can go up, they can go down," said Bessent, who described Washington's policy towards Havana as a strategy of "carrot and stick."
The secretary also revealed that the United States attempted to deliver humanitarian aid to Cuba, but the regime rejected it because it wanted to channel it through its own state apparatus.
"We tried to get humanitarian aid in, but the regime rejected it because they wanted to funnel it through their corrupt system," Bessent pointed out, commending Secretary of State Marco Rubio for "doing a fantastic job managing this process" and confirming that the Department of the Treasury is working in coordination with the Department of State on this issue.
The statements come at a time of sustained escalation of U.S. pressure on Cuba. On May 1, President Donald Trump signed Executive Order 14404, the most significant tightening of the sanctions regime against the island in decades, which introduced secondary sanctions for foreign companies and financial institutions engaging in substantial transactions with sanctioned Cuban entities.
On May 7, Rubio announced the first designations under that order: the military conglomerate GAESA, the company Moa Nickel S.A., and the official Ania Guillermina Lastres Morera. He set June 5 as the deadline for foreign companies to sever ties with GAESA under the threat of secondary sanctions.
In parallel, Washington offered $100 million in humanitarian aid for Cuba, conditioned on its distribution through the Catholic Church and independent organizations, rather than through the state apparatus. The regime initially described the offer as a "tale," although it later softened its stance and expressed willingness to listen to the details. Rubio confirmed that six million dollars in aid had already been delivered.
This is not the first notice from Bessent regarding Cuba. In March, the secretary predicted a "slow-motion regime change" on the island, linking it to the exit of Nicolás Maduro in Venezuela.
The context of maximum pressure is complemented by reports that Trump believes a collapse of the Cuban regime is possible this summer and that the Pentagon has already conducted military contingency exercises in anticipation of possible chaos on the island. Bloomberg also reported that Trump’s pressure could push Cuba toward a political break.
Since January 2026, the Trump administration has reportedly imposed more than 240 sanctions against Cuba, marking the most intense economic pressure campaign on the regime in decades. The deadline of June 5 for foreign companies to sever ties with GAESA will serve as a new test of how far Washington is willing to go, and whether Havana will choose the carrot or continue opting for the stick.
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