WASHINGTON: Donald Trump signed an executive order on Friday expanding US sanctions against the Cuban government, according to White House officials, as part of efforts to increase pressure on Havana following developments in Venezuela.
The new measures target individuals, entities and affiliates that support Cuba’s security apparatus or are involved in corruption or serious human rights violations, as well as government officials, agents and supporters.
It was not immediately clear which specific individuals or organisations had been sanctioned under the order, first reported by Reuters.
However, a copy of the order released by the White House stated that sanctions could apply to “any foreign person” operating in key sectors of the Cuban economy, including energy, defence, metals and mining, financial services, and security.
The order also authorises secondary sanctions on those who conduct or facilitate transactions with individuals or entities targeted under the measures, officials said.
Cuban President Miguel Díaz-Canel condemned the move, calling the new measures “coercive” and describing them as reinforcing what he termed a “brutal, genocidal” US blockade.
“The blockade and its reinforcement cause so much harm because of the intimidating and arrogant behavior of the world’s greatest military power,” he wrote on social media.
Cuba’s foreign minister Bruno Rodríguez Parrilla said the sanctions, announced during the country’s traditional May Day celebrations, amount to “collective punishment on the Cuban people” and insisted that Cubans would not be intimidated.
Analysts say the move represents a significant escalation. Jeremy Paner, a former sanctions investigator at the US Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control, described it as the most consequential step affecting non-American companies since the decades-old US embargo began.
“Oil and gas, mining companies, and banks that have carefully segregated their Cuba operations from the United States are no longer protected,” he said.
The latest sanctions are part of a broader campaign by the Trump administration, which has repeatedly claimed that Cuba is nearing collapse.
In recent months, US actions have included strikes on vessels allegedly carrying drugs off Venezuela and operations in Caracas targeting President Nicolás Maduro.
Trump has also warned that “Cuba is next,” without providing further details.
US officials said the executive order also signals concern over Cuba’s alleged alignment with countries such as Iran and groups including Hezbollah, accusing Havana of enabling hostile intelligence and military activities close to US territory.
Washington has long called on Cuba to open its state-controlled economy, compensate for properties expropriated under former leader Fidel Castro, and hold free and fair elections, demands Havana has consistently rejected.
Earlier this year, the US intensified pressure by halting Venezuelan oil exports to Cuba and threatening tariffs on countries supplying crude to the island, prompting Mexico to suspend shipments.
The resulting fuel shortages have contributed to widespread blackouts in Cuba and led several international airlines to suspend flights, deepening the country’s economic challenges.