US Imposes Sanctions on Cuban President Diaz-Canel and Raul Castro's Son

Washington — The United States Department of the Treasury has imposed sanctions on Cuban President Miguel Diaz-Canel and several members of his government’s inner circle, including relatives of former President Raul Castro.

The US Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) has added Diaz-Canel, along with his wife and son, Lis Cuesta Peraza and Manuel Anido Cuesta, to the Specially Designated Nationals list. Sanctions were also extended to the children and grandchildren of Raul Castro, specifically Alejandro Castro Espin and Raul Alejandro Castro Calis.

The measures also target the Ministry of the Revolutionary Armed Forces (MINFAR), the Cuban military, and the Committees for the Defence of the Revolution (CDR), a large-scale local surveillance system established in 1960 to report ‘counter-revolutionary’ activities.

Additional sanctions have been applied to the Cuban government-backed mining company, Minera La Victoria SA, as well as the Institute of Friendship with the Cuban People (ICAP), including its commercial travel division, Amistur Cuba SA.

“That country has already collapsed and we will deal with it as soon as we are finished; we will deal with the Islamic Republic of Iran; and once that is done, on the way home, we will just stop by for a moment,” Trump told reporters at the White House.

When asked whether the US sanctions on Cuba were intended to accelerate its collapse, Trump replied “no”. Trump emphasised that he only wants Cuba to become “a well-managed country capable of feeding its people”.

There was no immediate reaction from Havana.

“These sanctions target a wide network of radical and violent actions by the Cuban regime and the actors who execute and fund that network. The entities and individuals designated today direct or fund the regime and its efforts to mobilise radical revolutionary movements in the United States and throughout the world,” said Rubio.