The U.S. Department of State announced on Thursday a new round of sanctions against Cuba, which includes the designation of Fidel Ernesto Castro Calis, grandson of Raúl Castro, along with the Banco Exterior de Cuba and four entities linked to the regime's natural resources and energy sectors, according to the official statement from the Department of State.
The measures are carried out under Executive Order 14404, signed by President Trump on May 1, 2026, which authorizes broad sanctions against individuals and entities that support the repressive apparatus of the Cuban regime or operate in strategic sectors such as energy, mining, defense, and financial services.
What are the sanctioned entities?
- Banco Exterior de Cuba, Plaza de la Revolución, Havana. Financial institution established on February 29, 2000. SWIFT/BIC: BECUCUHH. [CUBA-EO14404].
- Comercial Cupet S.A., Havana. A state-owned company dedicated to the wholesale marketing of fuels and related products, established on September 18, 1991. [CUBA-EO14404].
- Company of Services Comandante René Ramos Latour, also known as Nicarotec, Mayarí, Holguín. A state-owned enterprise dedicated to providing support services for mining activities, established on January 31, 1977. [CUBA-EO14404].
- Importing Company for Oil Supplies, also known as Abapet, Havana. A state enterprise dedicated to the wholesale import and marketing of machinery and equipment, established on March 21, 2000, and affiliated with Unión Cuba Petróleo (Cupet). [CUBA-EO14404].
- Nickel Importing and Supplying Company, also known as Cexni, Moa, Holguín. A state-owned enterprise dedicated to wholesale trade, established on December 31, 1994. [CUBA-EO14404].
The State Department justified the designations with few words
"The Castro family and their accomplices in the repressive Ministry of the Interior continue to perpetuate their total control over the island's economy, monopolizing resources for the benefit of a small group of regime elites, while the Cuban people suffer," states the official document.
The sanctions block all assets of those designated under U.S. jurisdiction and prohibit any transactions with them by U.S. citizens and companies.
Executive Order 14404 also empowers secondary sanctions against foreign financial institutions that operate with the sanctioned entities.
Fidel Ernesto Castro Calis thus becomes the latest member of the Castro family to be designated. In June, Washington had already sanctioned Alejandro Castro Espín, son of Raúl and known as "El Tuerto", along with his wife Annalie Lilliam Rueda Cardero and his son Raúl Alejandro Castro Calis.
In that same wave, President Miguel Díaz-Canel, his wife Lis Cuesta Peraza, and his stepson Manuel Anido Cuesta were also appointed.
The pressure campaign has accumulated more than 240 sanctions against Cuba since January 2026, distributed across successive rounds that have targeted high-ranking intelligence officials, the Rapid Response Brigades, the Territorial Troops Militias, the Business Administration Group S.A. (GAESA), mining companies such as Geominsal and the Commander Ernesto Che Guevara Nickel Company, as well as entities within the military industry.
The State Department emphasized that the new designations reflect President Trump's vision of "a free Cuba, where the regime's illicit financial networks, its repressive apparatus, and the power structures of the Castro era are dismantled, and where the Cuban people, not their oppressors, inherit the future of the nation."
A point that does not go unnoticed among analysts is the deliberate exclusion of Raúl Guillermo Rodríguez Castro, nicknamed "El Cangrejo" and also the grandson of Raúl Castro, from all sanction lists to date.
Reports on the siege of the regime's leadership warn that Washington would deliberately keep it out of the designations as a possible informal channel of communication with Havana.
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