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The U.S. Department of the Treasury sanctioned this Monday the Antillian Export Corporation S.A. (ANTEX), the executive arm of the military conglomerate GAESA in Angola, along with nine other state entities, in a new round of designations that tightens the economic grip against the Cuban regime.
The Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) included ANTEX in the Specially Designated Nationals (SDN) List, explicitly linked to the Business Management Group S.A. The corporation, founded on January 1, 1998, and registered under entity code 60245, also operates under the names Antex Exporting Corporation S.A., Antex S.A., Antillean Exporter PLC, Antex Corporation S.A., and Antex Commercial Corporation S.A.
ANTEX is the vehicle through which GAESA manages Cuban medical missions in Angola: it recruits professionals, manages visas and flights, and oversees the accounts where the income generated by these services is deposited. Between 2013 and 2017, GAESA received over 1 billion dollars from Angola through this corporation for health and construction services.
In August 2025, more than 2,000 Cuban doctors in Angola reported that ANTEX was withholding accumulated salaries ranging from $20,000 to $22,000, and they were preparing a legal claim against the corporation.
Along with ANTEX, the OFAC designated nine other Cuban entities under Executive Order 14404, signed by President Donald Trump on May 1, 2026.
Among the sanctioned companies are COREYDAN S.A. and ENETEC S.A., both from the fuel sector; the Maritime Port Transport Business Group (GEMAR), which encompasses 32 companies in the sector; and the Foreign Trade Business Group (GECOMEX), which manages more than 20% of Cuban imports and includes firms such as Alimport, Cubaexport, and Quimimport.
The Superior Organization of Business Management CAUDAL S.A., a state conglomerate of insurance and financial services, was also blocked, along with the Ministry of Tourism of Cuba (MINTUR), marking the first direct designation of the governing body of tourism on the island, which is the main source of foreign currency for the regime.
The list is completed with three internal repression organizations: the Rapid Response Brigades, civilian groups trained to dissolve protests, active since June 1991; the Cuban Revolution Combatants Association (ACRC), with over 337,000 members retired from the Armed Forces and MININT; and the Territorial Troops Militias (MTT), a civil-military force established in January 1980.
This is the fourth round of sanctions in less than three months. The previous ones included the direct designation of GAESA and its CEO on May 7; the formal penalization of GAESA, MININT, and MINFAR along with Miguel Díaz-Canel and his circle on June 4, and new entities linked to GAESA on June 23.
The State Department simultaneously released a statement titled "New Sanctions Against the Sources of Funding and Tools of Oppression of the Cuban Regime", which accompanies the action from the Treasury and underscores the coordinated nature of Washington's pressure on Havana.
The sanction against the MINTUR comes at a time when international tourism in Cuba had already experienced a 48% decline in the first quarter of 2026 compared to the same period the previous year, partly as a result of the cumulative impact of prior designations on the hotel sector and foreign companies operating on the Island.
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