US Imposes Sanctions on Cuban Officials and Entities Over Security Concerns
Sanctions Target Cuban Officials and Entities
File image of the White House(Photo: @Sravera01/X)
Washington, Aug 21: The United States has enacted sanctions against three officials from Cuba and nine associated entities, including the construction ministry, citing their involvement in supporting the oppressive regime in Havana and activities that pose a threat to US national security.
The sanctions specifically target leaders of the Cuban Institute of Friendship with the Peoples (ICAP) and various state-run organizations involved in construction, mining, metals, and international trade.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio stated that ICAP is part of a broader Cuban network operating in the US under the pretense of educational and cultural exchanges.
“The Cuban regime has long sponsored a vast subversive network in the United States aimed at identifying, cultivating, and radicalizing subversives, largely operating under the pretext of educational or cultural exchange,” Rubio remarked in a statement.
The sanctions include ICAP President Fernando Gonzalez Llort, First Vice-President Noemi Ramona Rabaza Fernandez, and North America Director Leima Martinez Freire.
Gonzalez Llort was previously part of the “Cuban Five,” a group of intelligence officers arrested in 1998, and served 15 years in a US prison before being released to Cuba in 2014, according to the State Department.
Rubio accused Gonzalez Llort of continuing to undermine US stability through his activities with ICAP after returning to Cuba.
The State Department had earlier classified ICAP as a political entity of the Cuban government, noting that it organizes international brigades at various locations in Cuba.
Facilities such as Campamento Internacional Julio Antonio Mella, Casa Memorial Salvador Allende, and Casa de la Amistad have been identified as ICAP locations and will be treated as sanctioned properties.
Rubio highlighted that Cuba recently leveraged the centenary of Fidel Castro’s birth to attract international supporters to Havana for meetings with government officials.
“The Trump Administration will not stand by while a hostile foreign power seeks to exploit our freedoms—none of which are afforded to its people—by misleading and corrupting American citizens with lies, spy tradecraft, and other malfeasance as part of the regime’s raison d'être of exporting Marxism, racial resentment, and Communist violence across the world,” he stated.
The nine entities sanctioned include the Ministry of Construction of Cuba and four companies associated with metals and mining operations.
These include Empresa de Niquel Comandante Ernesto Che Guevara, which processes nickel and cobalt; Metalcuba; Grupo Empresarial Geominero Salinero; and Acinox Comercial.
Additionally, ACOREC S.A., which provides Cuban labor to foreign companies, is also sanctioned. The State Department noted that this company reportedly retains over 90% of wages paid by foreign entities for Cuban workers.
Three other sanctioned firms—Coratur S.A., Transimport, and Consumimport—were designated due to their connections with the already-blocked Grupo Empresarial del Comercio Exterior, handling international trade and imports of various goods.
As part of the sanctions, any property or interests in property belonging to the designated individuals and entities within the US or controlled by US persons must be blocked and reported to the Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control. Entities that are at least 50% owned by blocked individuals are also subject to these restrictions.