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The Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC), part of the U.S. Department of the Treasury, added this Monday the Rapid Response Brigades, the Territorial Troops Militias (MTT), and the Association of Combatants of the Cuban Revolution (ACRC) to the Specially Designated Nationals List (SDN), in a new round of sanctions against the Cuban regime under Executive Order 14404.
The measure places the Rapid Response Brigades at the center of the sanctions, which have been considered one of the main tools of political repression on the island for decades.
Created in June 1991 by the decision of Fidel Castro and the Communist Party of Cuba, during the Special Period, these brigades are made up of civilians aligned with the regime, members of the PCC, and military personnel in civilian clothing who act as a paramilitary force to intimidate and repress opponents, activists, and protesters.
Various international organizations, including Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch, have documented for years the use of these brigades in acts of repudiation, beatings, and other physical assaults against citizens who express their dissent.
Their performance gained particular notoriety during the protests of July 11, 2021 (11J), when they operated alongside the Ministry of the Interior (MININT) and the Revolutionary Armed Forces (FAR) in the repression of the largest anti-government demonstrations recorded in Cuba in decades. Human Rights Watch documented more than 1,400 arrests in just three days at that time.
One of the most well-known cases linked to these structures occurred in April 2025, when the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) arrested Daniel Morejón García in Miami, former president of the National Defense Council in Artemisa and identified as a member of the Rapid Response Brigades. U.S. authorities accused him of participating in beatings and physical abuse against protesters from the 11J movement.
More recently, in March 2025, the regime organized preparedness drills with these brigades in the provinces of Guantánamo and Holguín, including shooting practices and handling of weapons, as part of the official strategy after declaring 2026 as the "Year of Defense Preparation".
In addition to the Rapid Response Brigades, OFAC sanctioned the Territorial Troops Militias (MTT), established on January 20, 1980, under the doctrine of the so-called "War of All the People." The MTT, classified as a government entity, encompass over one million members within the structure of the Ministry of Revolutionary Armed Forces (MINFAR).
The list also includes the Association of Combatants of the Cuban Revolution (ACRC), founded on December 7, 1993. According to the Cuban Observatory of Human Rights, members of this organization have participated in acts of repudiation where they "threaten and physically assault" activists and opponents.
They also sanction new economic entities of the regime
In the same decision, the OFAC expanded sanctions to several state entities considered sources of funding for the Cuban regime. Among them are the Ministry of Tourism (MINTUR), the Port Maritime Transport Business Group (GEMAR), the Foreign Trade Business Group (GECOMEX), the Antillean Export Corporation S.A. (ANTEX) —linked to the military conglomerate GAESA—, OSDE Caudal S.A., and the energy sector companies COREYDAN S.A. and ENETEC S.A.
Simultaneously, the State Department released a statement titled "Further Sanctions on the Cuban Regime's Sources of Funding and Tools of Oppression" ("Further sanctions on the sources of funding and the instruments of oppression of the Cuban regime"), in which it frames these measures as part of Washington's strategy to increase pressure on the repressive and financial structures of the Cuban government.
This is the fifth round of sanctions imposed under Executive Order 14404, signed by President Donald Trump on May 1, 2026. The previous actions against GAESA on May 7, the Intelligence Directorate and MININT on May 18, MINFAR, the CDR, and Miguel Díaz-Canel on June 4, and CUPET on June 11.
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