The latest sanctions target military-controlled conglomerates as the United States continues its effective fuel blockade.
Published May 7, 2026
The United States has imposed a number of new sanctions related to Cuba during a months-long pressure campaign against the country.
Thursday’s sanctions were announced hours after U.N. experts denounced Washington’s effective fuel blockade on the island, tantamount to “energy starvation.”
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The measure targets Grupo de Administracion Empresarial SA (GAESA), a military-controlled conglomerate with ties to almost every sector of the country’s economy.
Also targeted was Ania Guillermina Lastres Morera, president of More Nickel SA (MNSA), a joint venture between GAESA, Toronto-based Sherritt International Inc., and Cuba’s state-owned nickel company.
Sherritt announced in a statement on its website Thursday that it had suspended its direct participation in joint venture activities in Cuba in response to the sanctions.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio said in a statement published in X that the sanctions “demonstrate that the Trump administration will not remain silent while Cuba’s communist regime threatens national security in our hemisphere.”
“We will continue to act until the administration enacts all necessary political and economic reforms,” he said.
Cuba’s government did not immediately react to the latest sanctions, but denounced previous sanctions announced this week as “unilateral coercive measures” and “collective punishment against the Cuban people.”
The Trump administration has increased pressure on Cuba’s communist government following the January 3 abduction of Venezuelan leader Nicolas Maduro.
Since then, the U.S. government has halted Venezuelan oil shipments to Cuba, long considered a lifeline. President Trump also issued an executive order paving the way for sanctions on countries that supply fuel to the island, effectively imposing a blockade.
President Trump has also repeatedly threatened military action to overthrow the country’s government.
On Thursday, three UN special rapporteurs condemned what they called an “unlawful blockade”, saying it “not only disrupts daily life but also undermines the enjoyment of a wide range of human rights”.
They defined “energy hunger” as “a condition in which the functioning of essential services necessary for a dignified life is impaired due to lack of fuel.”
All told, only one Russian oil tanker has arrived in Cuba in recent months, exacerbating an energy crisis already caused by economic stagnation.
Experts pointed to reports that fuel shortages are keeping people out of hospitals and children out of school, adding that the country’s health system reportedly faces a backlog of more than 96,000 surgeries, including 11,000 for children.
“Energy starvation as a means of coercion is inconsistent with international human rights norms,” they said.
