The United States sanctioned the Port of Mariel on Thursday after concluding that the military conglomerate GAESA attempted to evade U.S. restrictions by transferring the terminal to another state-owned enterprise.
The core of the action is the sanction against Terminal de Contenedores de Mariel S.A. and Coral Marítima S.A. for an operation detected in mid-June: the military conglomerate GAESA transferred the Port of Mariel to Coral Marítima S.A. to remove it from the scope of the sanctions that were already in place against it.
The State Department described the maneuver without ambiguity: "Mariel Container Terminal S.A. is Cuba's main container terminal and transferred the Port of Mariel to Coral Marítima S.A. in a mid-June transaction to evade sanctions."
The notification to clients regarding that asset sale, dated June 25 in Artemisa, announced the creation of Terminales Portuarias CORAL S.A. as the new operator. Washington responded by sanctioning both parties involved in the transaction.
The State Department designated this Thursday nine entities and two individuals linked to the Cuban regime.
The designations were adopted under the Executive Order 14404, signed by President Donald Trump on May 1, 2026, and were announced by Secretary of State Marco Rubio.
CEIBA Investments Limited was also appointed, a firm based in Guernsey that has been investing in Cuban real estate since 1996, and whose Panamanian subsidiary took control of an old joint venture of GAESA after its designation, as well as ORBIT S.A., a remittance processor that the State Department considers "almost certainly" controlled by GAESA.
In the field of medical missions, the sanctions targeted the Comercializadora de Servicios Médicos Cubanos S.A. (CSMC), described as "the main source of foreign currency for the Cuban regime, generating more income than any other sector of the economy."
The Central Unit for Medical Cooperation (UCCM) was also sanctioned, an organization of the Ministry of Public Health responsible for recruiting professionals for abroad.
At the individual level, the Minister of Public Health José Ángel Portal Miranda and the director of the UCCM Gretza Sánchez Padrón were appointed.
Washington reiterates that the regime retains between 50% and 95% of the salaries paid by recipient countries, affecting tens of thousands of professionals deployed in more than 50 countries.
In the energy sector, the measures affected CEINPET —the research and development arm of the already sanctioned CUPET—, as well as ENERSA and EINARBO S.A., both importers of gas and lubricants, the latter receiving supplies from Mexico and India.
This is the fourth significant round of sanctions in less than three months: on May 7, GAESA was directly designated; on June 23, Almacenes Universales S.A.; and on July 13, GEMAR, ANTEX, COREYDAN, ENETEC, and GECOMEX, among other entities.
Rubio warned that any foreign bank or company providing services to the sanctioned must immediately suspend those activities: "Anyone who supports, sponsors, or provides services to these sanctioned actors risks being sanctioned. Foreign banks and other companies that provide services or hold funds for these entities must suspend those activities immediately."
The congressman Carlos A. Giménez went further in his reaction: “Any country that continues to participate in the perverse human trafficking scheme of the Cuban regime is facilitating modern slavery. I will vote to withdraw U.S. funds from countries that collaborate in the oppression of the Cuban people.”
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