The U.S. Department of the Treasury expanded its sanctions against Cuba on Thursday by adding two Cuban state-owned enterprises engaged in metals and three officials from the Cuban Institute of Friendship with the Peoples (ICAP) to its list of Specially Designated Nationals (SDN), in a new round of designations published by the Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC).
The two sanctioned entities are ACINOX Comercial S.A., a state-owned company in the steel sector founded in 1990 and dedicated to the manufacturing of basic iron and steel, and ACOREC S.A. (Agency for Contracting Commercial Representations), a state agency for human resource provision established in October 1991, both headquartered in Havana.
The designation of ACINOX Comercial tightens the grip on the Cuban metallurgical sector, one of the specific targets of the Executive Order 14404 signed by Trump on May 1, 2026, which expanded sanctions on Cuba under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA) to include the metals and mining, energy, defense, financial services, and security sectors.
Regarding individuals, the OFAC designated Fernando González Llort, president of ICAP since 2017 and one of the Cuban ex-spies known as the "Cuban Five," who was released by the United States in 2014 during the diplomatic thaw of the Obama era.
The appointment of González Llort comes just a day after the Cuban president Miguel Díaz-Canel publicly congratulated him on his birthday on August 19, adding a symbolic weight to the decision.
Alongside González Llort, the SDN list also included Leima Martínez Freire, born in Guanabacoa, and Noemi Ramona Rabaza Fernández, originally from Bayamo, Granma, both linked to the ICAP according to OFAC documentation.
The ICAP had already been sanctioned as an institution on June 4, 2026, accused of supporting Cuban intelligence and counterintelligence activities. On that occasion, the organization deemed the measure a "political hostile act" and demanded to be removed from the list.
The action taken this Thursday is part of an ongoing sequence of maximum pressure. In June, Washington sanctioned Moa Nickel S.A. and Minera La Victoria S.A.—just 15 days after Cuba awarded the latter a 20-year concession for gold and copper—and on August 6 imposed sanctions on five entities and eight individuals linked to Cuban military cooperation.
The OFAC has warned that the risk of sanctions extends to any transaction with entities in which GAESA, MININT, or the Armed Forces hold a direct or indirect stake of 50% or more, which puts foreign companies on alert operating on the island.
The same update from August 20 also included the issuance of General License 131I related to Russia —concerning transactions linked to Lukoil International GmbH— and the amendment of several associated frequently asked questions, reflecting the global scope of this Thursday's designation round.
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