Cuba condemns new US sanctions against officials and entities

Cuban Foreign Minister Bruno Rodriguez on Thursday (20/8) condemned the increased sanctions imposed by the United States (US) against a number of Cuban officials and entities.

He accused Washington of deliberately seeking to strangle Cuba’s economy and weaken its government’s ability to provide basic services.

In a post on X, Rodriguez criticised US Secretary of State Marco Rubio for his “failed obsession with Cuba” after the US imposed sanctions on senior officials of the Cuban Institute of Friendship with the Peoples (ICAP), including ICAP President Fernando Gonzalez Llort, First Vice President Noemi Ramona Rabaza Fernandez and North America Director Leima Martinez Freire.

Rodriguez stressed that ICAP promotes friendship, international solidarity, justice and peace — values that are precisely the opposite of what Rubio has been fighting for through his policies.

The expanded sanctions also target key entities in the metals and mining sector, as well as companies engaged in trade, imports and labour services that support the production, trade and supply of metallurgical goods, mining products and industrial equipment.

The new measures mark a broader escalation in Washington’s policy towards Havana since late January.

They follow earlier US military action against Venezuela and Iran this year, with US President Donald Trump threatening that “Cuba is next”, imposing an oil blockade and tightening the long-standing embargo in a bid to cut off Cuba’s economic lifeline.