The United States added eight Cuban state-owned enterprises, the Ministry of Construction, and three officials from the Cuban Institute for Friendship with the Peoples (ICAP) to the list of Specially Designated Nationals and Blocked Persons (SDN) this Thursday, as part of a broader update that included measures related to Cuba, terrorism, drug trafficking, and Iran.
The Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC), part of the Department of the Treasury, announced new designations related to Cuba under Executive Order 14404, as part of an update that also included sanctions for terrorism and drug trafficking.
The eight added Cuban state-owned companies are Acinox Comercial, the Agency for Hiring Commercial Representations S.A. (Acorec), the Corporation for Tourism Supplies S.A. (Coratur), Transimport, Consumimport, the Nickel Company Comandante Ernesto Che Guevara, the Importing, Exporting, and Marketing Company for Metals (Metalcuba), and the Geological and Mining Business Group Salinero (Geominsal).
Three officials from the Cuban regime were also appointed: the former spy Fernando González Llort, president of ICAP; Noemí Rabaza Fernández, first vice president of that organization, and Leima Martínez Freire, director for the North America area.
The ICAP had already been included in June on the list of sanctioned entities by the United States, but this time the OFAC updated its registry to incorporate other entities associated with the institution, including the House of Friendship, the Salvador Allende Memorial House, and the Julio Antonio Mella International Camp in Artemisa.
The OFAC also included the Ministry of Construction of Cuba (MICONS) in the list.
In a statement regarding the new sanctions on MICONS, OFAC indicated that it does not intend to sanction foreign individuals or financial institutions for the necessary operations to terminate their business dealings with the ministry, or with entities in which the ministry holds directly or indirectly at least 50% ownership, provided that the process is completed by September 19, 2026.
The OFAC warned, however, that returning assets to a sanctioned party or transferring them to another jurisdiction for potential use could expose foreign individuals to sanctions.
It also clarified that this margin for closing transactions does not authorize prohibited transactions with individuals or entities subject to the jurisdiction of the United States.
This time, the Treasury update was not limited to Cuba; the OFAC also added individuals and entities under programs related to terrorism and drug trafficking, including targets linked to Hizballah and drug trafficking networks in Ecuador.
These designations are based on legal grounds different from those applied to Cuban entities and citizens.
The new measures come just two weeks after the round of sanctions announced on August 6, when the United States included five Cuban entities and eight officials linked to the acquisition of foreign armaments for the Armed Forces.
Prior to that, on July 23, Washington had imposed sanctions against nine entities and two officials connected to, among other sectors, energy, GAESA, and medical missions.
In June, the U.S. added to the list of Specially Designated Nationals the leader Miguel Díaz-Canel Bermúdez, his wife Lis Cuesta Peraza, Alejandro Castro Espín —son of Raúl Castro— and the Ministry of the Revolutionary Armed Forces (MINFAR).
Since January 2026, the Trump administration has imposed over 250 new sanctions against the Cuban regime, marking the most intense offensive in decades aimed at dismantling the sources of funding and the pillars of political control of the dictatorship.
Related videos:
Filed under: