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Manuel Anido Cuesta, son of the Cuban First Lady Lis Cuesta Peraza and former partner of actress Ana de Armas, was included this Thursday in the Specially Designated Nationals List of the Office of Foreign Assets Control of the U.S. Department of the Treasury, known as the OFAC SDN list, under Executive Order EO14404 related to Cuba.
Anido Cuesta, born on November 3, 1994, in Holguín and residing in Madrid, Spain, appears on the list explicitly linked to his mother, who was also sanctioned in the same action alongside the Cuban president Miguel Díaz-Canel Bermúdez.
The measure is part of one of the most extensive sanctions packages against the Cuban regime in recent years, targeting simultaneously the president, the first lady, their son, and key figures within the island's intelligence apparatus.
Alejandro Castro Espín, known as "El Tuerto" and son of Raúl Castro, who is identified as an influential figure in Cuban intelligence services, as well as his son Raúl Alejandro Castro Calis, born in Havana in 1995, were also sanctioned.
Anido Cuesta is a graduate in Law and was working as an advisor to the Cuban government. He had accompanied Díaz-Canel on official trips to the Vatican and the United Arab Emirates, which demonstrated his closeness to the power structures of the regime.
His name shot to international fame in November 2024, when ¡HOLA! magazine published photographs of him alongside Ana de Armas in Madrid. The couple was also seen in Gstaad, Switzerland, that same month. The relationship sparked a wave of criticism within the Cuban exile community, which questioned the actress regarding her connection to the stepson of the ruler.
Since March 2025, neither was seen together publicly, which sparked rumors of a split. At the time of the sanctions, Anido was residing in Madrid, where he led a high-profile life that included studying at private European universities and living in exclusive areas, in stark contrast to the economic crisis facing the Cuban people.
Among the entities sanctioned in the same action are the Ministry of Revolutionary Armed Forces (MINFAR), the Committees for the Defense of the Revolution (CDR), the Cuban Institute for Friendship with the Peoples (ICAP), the travel agency AMISTUR CUBA SA, and the mining company MINERA LA VICTORIA SA.
The designation under EO14404 means that all assets and interests of those sanctioned under U.S. jurisdiction are blocked, and U.S. citizens and companies are prohibited from engaging in transactions with them.
The OFAC also issued a new Frequently Asked Question on the same date, FAQ 1258, related to Cuba, which complements the scope of the new measures.
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