The U.S. Department of State included Guillermo Faustino Rodríguez López-Calleja on its sanctions list this Thursday, the uncle of Raúl Guillermo Rodríguez Castro —popularly known as “El Cangrejo”— and the brother of the late General Luis Alberto Rodríguez López-Calleja, former head of the military business conglomerate GAESA.
The designation, announced in the context of a new round of sanctions against the Cuban regime, is based on Executive Order 14404, signed by President Donald Trump on May 1, 2026, and identifies it as part of "an extensive network of maritime companies that move petroleum products to and from Cuba," according to the official statement from the State Department.
The sanction tightens the grip on the most powerful family environment of the regime without yet directly affecting "El Cangrejo." Raúl Guillermo Rodríguez Castro, 42 years old, a colonel in MININT and head of Raúl Castro's personal security, has been left out of all the 2026 rounds of sanctions, something that analysts have linked to his supposed role as an informal communication channel between Washington and the former leader's circle.
His father, General Luis Alberto Rodríguez López-Calleja, was individually sanctioned by the U.S. in 2020 and passed away on July 1, 2022 from a cardiorespiratory arrest in Havana.
Graduated from the Naval Academy of Cuba and an official in Cuban Counterintelligence, Guillermo Faustino was not unknown to the investigators.
In February 2021, the OpenLux investigation by the Miami Herald and El Nuevo Herald had already linked him to a network of offshore companies registered in Luxembourg, Switzerland, the Bahamas, and Panama, and his name was associated with the shipping companies Caroil Transport Marine Ltd. and Trocana World Inc., responsible for transporting Venezuelan oil to Cuba.
The Panama Papers identified him as the president of Pescatlan S.A., a fleet of fishing vessels in the Caribbean, highlighting his career as an operator of offshore shipping networks spanning more than three decades.
Luxembourg records from 2019 identified him as the owner of Mid Atlantic S.A., which in turn controlled Anglo-Caribbean Shipping Co. based in London.
When journalists from the Herald managed to contact him in 2021, Guillermo Faustino dodged the questions and pretended to have a poor connection before hanging up; hours later, the phone and the associated WhatsApp account showed as "out of service."
Along with its designation, the State Department also sanctioned four companies linked to the oil transportation network: CAROIL Transport Marine Ltd. (Cyprus), TENTACOOL Commercial Inc. (Panama), Internacional Marítima S.A. (Cuba), and Petróleos Marítimos del Caribe S.A. —PETROMARCA— (Cuba).
Five vessels were identified as blocked property: Esperanza, Gloria C, Maria Cristina, Emilia, and Lourdes.
On the same day, Washington also sanctioned Any Rodríguez Lastres, the daughter of Ania Guillermina Lastres Morera, the current president of GAESA, for being a close adult relative of a person already designated.
The State Department was explicit about the objective of these measures: "Cuba's ruling elite monopolizes the island's energy and maritime resources for their own enrichment, leaving the Cuban people to deal with blackouts, fuel shortages, and a stagnant economy."
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