The United States government announced this Thursday a new round of sanctions against Cuba that includes the designation of Fidel Ernesto Castro Calis, grandson of Raúl Castro, alongside the Banco Exterior de Cuba and four entities linked to the regime's mineral resources and energy sectors, according to the official statement from the Department of State.
The measures are implemented under Executive Order 14404, signed by President Donald Trump on May 1, 2026, which authorizes broad sanctions against individuals and entities that uphold 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?
The coordinated action between the State Department and the Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) of the U.S. Department of the Treasury included the following Cuban entities in the Specially Designated Nationals (SDN) List:
- 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 focused on the wholesale distribution of fuels and related products, established on September 18, 1991. [CUBA-EO14404].
- Commander René Ramos Latour Services Company, also known as Nicarotec, Mayarí, Holguín. A state-owned company dedicated to providing support services for mining activities, established on January 31, 1977. [CUBA-EO14404].
- Importing Company for Oil Supply, also known as Abapet, Havana. A state-run company 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 Import and Supply 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 in few words
"The Castro family and their accomplices in the repressive Ministry of the Interior continue to maintain 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," the official document states.
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 enables secondary sanctions against foreign financial institutions that operate with the sanctioned entities.
Fidel Ernesto Castro Calis thus becomes the most recent member of the Castro family to be designated. In June, Washington had already imposed sanctions on Alejandro Castro Espín, son of Raúl Castro, known as "El Tuerto," along with his wife Annalie Lilliam Rueda Cardero and his son Raúl Alejandro Castro Calis.
In that same round, 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 Grupo de Administración Empresarial S.A. (GAESA), and the Banco Financiero Internacional S.A. (BFI) and RAFIN S.A., entities linked to the military conglomerate of the Armed Forces of the regime.
In addition, the Rapid Response Brigades, the Territorial Troops Militia, the Cuban Institute for Friendship with the Peoples, mining companies such as Geominsal and the Comandante Ernesto Che Guevara Nickel Company, and entities from the military industry.
The State Department emphasized that the new designations align with 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 fact that does not go unnoticed by analysts is the deliberate exclusion of Raúl Guillermo Rodríguez Castro, nicknamed "El Cangrejo" and also the grandson of General Castro, from all sanctions lists to date.
Reports on the encirclement of the regime's leadership warn that Washington would deliberately keep it out of any designations as a potential informal communication channel with Havana.
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