Washington, United States: The United States on Thursday imposed new sanctions on key economic entities in Cuba as it seeks to ramp up pressure on the communist-led nemesis.
The sanctions announced by Secretary of State Marco Rubio included targeting a joint venture involving Canadian mining company Sherritt, which in a near simultaneous announcement said it was leaving Cuba.
Rubio also announced new measures against Gaesa, the military-backed conglomerate estimated to control some 40 percent of the Cuban economy.
Gaesa was already under US sanctions, but the new measures were imposed under an executive order signed last week by President Donald Trump that outlines parts of the Cuban economy for which foreign banks would incur sanctions if they have transactions.
"Just 90 miles from the American homeland, the Cuban regime has brought the island to ruin and auctioned off the island as a platform for foreign intelligence, military and terror operations," said Rubio, a Cuban-American and vociferous critic of Havana.
"Additional designations can be expected in the following days and weeks," he warned.
Rubio said that Gaesa "is designed to generate income not for the Cuban people, but only for the benefit of its corrupt elite."
A Miami Herald investigation based on purported leaked documents estimated that Gaesa had $18 billion in assets in early 2024, in line with the level of expenditure from the state itself.
Trump has mused about taking over Cuba, which has been under a US embargo almost continuously since the 1959 communist revolution of Fidel Castro.
