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The U.S. Secretary of State, Marco Rubio, announced this Thursday the designation of five Cuban entities under the sanctions authorities established by the Executive Order on Cuba from President Donald Trump, warning that the administration will no longer tolerate radical Marxist regimes in the Western Hemisphere.
"For decades, Cuba has been the world capital of radical leftist terrorism. The regime in Havana has recruited, trained, and supported violent Marxist movements throughout our hemisphere and beyond," Rubio stated on his official account. "Today, we are targeting the network that enables and finances Cuba's subversive and radical operations."
The five designated entities are: the Ministry of the Revolutionary Armed Forces (MINFAR), the Cuban Institute of Friendship with the Peoples (ICAP), Amistur Cuba S.A., the Defense Committees of the Revolution (CDR), and Minera La Victoria S.A.
The MINFAR is the military structure that controls the GAESA business conglomerate, which was sanctioned on May 7 along with its CEO, General Ania Guillermina Lastres Morera.
ICAP, led by Fernando González Llort —a former member of the so-called "Five Heroes"— is identified as the regime's influence diplomacy arm with allies such as Syria, Iran, and Russia.
The CDR, under the coordination of Gerardo Hernández —another former state agent— are identified as instruments of neighborhood surveillance and repression, particularly active after the protests on July 11, 2021.
Rubio warned that any foreign bank or company providing services to these entities must immediately freeze those activities. "Anyone who offers services to these sanctioned actors risks being sanctioned themselves," he emphasized.
This is the third wave of sanctions in less than a month. On May 18, Washington sanctioned 11 high-ranking officials and three entities, including the Intelligence Directorate, MININT, and the National Revolutionary Police.
On the same Thursday, the Office of Foreign Assets Control of the Department of the Treasury added Miguel Díaz-Canel and his wife Lis Cuesta Peraza to the list of Specially Designated Nationals, along with Alejandro Castro Espín, Manuel Anido Cuesta, and Raúl Alejandro Castro Calis. This is the first time that Díaz-Canel and Cuesta Peraza have appeared directly on that list.
The new designations come a day after several international hotel chains —Blue Diamond Resorts, Iberostar, Meliá, and Aston— began to exit Cuba due to the pressure of sanctions, and coincide with the expiration of the deadline set for foreign companies to sever ties with GAESA.
The accumulated impact since January 2026 is severe: blackouts of up to 25 hours a day, a projected GDP decline between 6.5% and 7.2% for this year according to The Economist Intelligence Unit, and more than 240 sanctions imposed against the regime.
"The Trump Administration will no longer tolerate radical Marxist regimes in our hemisphere that seek to threaten the national security of the U.S. and carry out influence operations to export their poisonous and wicked 'revolution' to our country and the world," concluded Rubio.
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