Key facts
- The U.S. has imposed new sanctions on Cuba, targeting individuals and entities.
- Fidel Ernesto Castro, grandson of former President Raúl Castro, and Cuba’s Oil Industry Supply Import Company (Abapet) were sanctioned.
- The sanctions are intended to disrupt Cuba's energy sector and worsen its economic crises.
- Cuban officials condemned the sanctions, attributing the island's hardships to the U.S. blockade.
- Sanctions expert Brett Erickson suggested the U.S. aims to create civilian hardship to provoke regime change.
The U.S. government has imposed new sanctions on Cuba, targeting individuals and entities including Fidel Ernesto Castro, grandson of former President Raúl Castro, and the Oil Industry Supply Import Company (Abapet). The sanctions are designed to further strangle the island's economy and exacerbate its ongoing crises, particularly its energy sector, which relies on Abapet for essential equipment and spare parts.
According to Brett Erickson, a sanctions expert, the U.S. aims to "tighten the screws as much as possible" and potentially create a humanitarian crisis to provoke regime change. He noted that Cuba's government will likely attempt to circumvent these measures, though it will come at a higher cost, further fueling inflation.
These sanctions come as Cuba experiences increasingly frequent and prolonged islandwide blackouts, with daily outages now exceeding 24 hours due to an aging power grid and dwindling fuel reserves. These issues have been compounded since U.S. President Donald Trump threatened tariffs on oil sales to the island.
Cuban officials, including Deputy Prime Minister Oscar Pérez-Oliva Fraga, condemned the sanctions, blaming the U.S. "blockade" for the nation's hardships. Ambassador Eugenio Martínez Enríquez described the sanctions as an attempt by "neofascists" to make life unbearable for Cubans. U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio stated on X that the sanctioned individuals are part of a corrupt network and reiterated his and Trump's commitment to a free Cuba, alleging that regime elites enrich themselves while ordinary Cubans suffer.
Residents like Yaqueline Bernal are experiencing severe consequences, with Bernal reporting no electricity since Sunday and expressing concern over the lack of water due to power outages.