The Secretary of State Marco Rubio accused the Havana dictatorship of being a state sponsor of terrorism that spies on the United States, arms violent radicals, and spreads Marxist ideology, while also serving as an operational platform for Russia, China, and Iran just 90 miles off the U.S. coast.
"The Cuban communist regime is a state sponsor of terrorism that uses its military and intelligence apparatus to spy on the United States, provide material support to violent radicals and terrorist groups, and spread a poisonous Marxist ideology within our borders," Rubio stated.
The U.S. announced this Thursday new sanctions against the Cuban regime, designating five entities and eight individuals linked to the importation of foreign weapons and to the military cooperation of the Ministry of the Revolutionary Armed Forces (MINFAR) with Washington's adversaries.
The five sanctioned entities are Tecnoimport and Tecnotex —both subsidiaries of the military conglomerate GAESA—, Duna S.A., the Military Industry Union (UIM), and the Yuri Gagarin Military Industrial Company.
Tecnoimport has been accused of importing military equipment for the MINFAR from China and Russia. Duna S.A. faces similar charges for its involvement in the entry of military material from those same countries.
The UIM is responsible for producing, repairing, and modernizing the armament of the Cuban Armed Forces in cooperation with Russian defense entities, while the Yuri Gagarin Military Industrial Company focuses on the maintenance of Russian-made helicopters and military aircraft.
Tecnotex, for its part, has a history of cooperation with North Korea in addition to its ties with the defense and security sectors.
Among the eight designated officials are the Minister of the Armed Forces, Álvaro López Miera, and the Chief of the General Staff, Roberto Legrá Sotolongo, both previously sanctioned by the Treasury Department in 2021 for their role in suppressing the protests of July 11 of that year.
Roberto Jesús Viciana Mousset, General Director of the UIM and Brigadier General of the FAR; Heriberto Sánchez Alleyne, General Director of Tecnoimport; José Antonio Remón Rodríguez, Head of the Foreign Relations Department of MINFAR; Óscar Enrique Biosca Gallego, Head of the Economic Department of MINFAR; Mónica Milián Gómez, Cuban military attaché in Russia; and Waldo Pérez Cortés, Cuban military attaché in China, were also appointed.
The sanctions are based on Executive Order 14404, signed on May 1, 2026, and come two weeks after the State Department published the report "Cuba: The Capital of 21st Century Communism", which documents the regime's alliances with Russia and China, including the supply of military hardware, surveillance technologies, and intelligence operations.
This is the last in a series of escalating actions by the Trump administration against Havana throughout 2026. In May, GAESA was sanctioned; in June, MINFAR itself along with other entities; and in July, the list was expanded to include more subsidiaries and companies linked to the regime, including the Mariel Container Terminal.
Rubio warned that any foreign bank or company providing services to the sanctioned entities must cease those activities immediately.
"Anyone who supports, sponsors, or provides services to these sanctioned actors risks being sanctioned themselves," wrote the Secretary of State, who emphasized that President Trump's determination is "unwavering": the United States will not tolerate a pariah state that hosts military, intelligence, and terrorist operations hostile to its territory, just 90 miles away.
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