The Cuban president denounced Thursday the “aggressiveness and perversity” of the United States after a new wave of American sanctions targeting him.
The American government increased its pressure on Cuba on Thursday by placing several Cuban personalities under economic sanctions, including President Miguel Diaz-Canel and members of the Castro family. Mr. Diaz-Canel was already the subject of sanctions since July 2025 by American diplomacy, which accuses him of acts of repression against demonstrators in 2021.
“The aggressiveness and perversity of the Yankee government will clash with our decision to face the worst scenarios and resist the imperial attack”reacted to X the head of the Cuban state. These sanctions “aim to strengthen the blockade measures and the climate of conflict between Cuba and the United States”he accused.
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The son and one of the grandsons of Raul Castro, who no longer has an official function but remains, at 95, at the heart of decisions concerning the future of the communist island, are also on the blacklist of the American Department of Finance. Only son of the former leader, Alejandro Castro Espin, now sanctioned, was a key player in the secret negotiations between Cuba and the United States which led in 2015 to the reestablishment of diplomatic relations between the two countries. The wife of the Cuban president, Lis Cuesta, and her son are also sanctioned. next to the Ministry of the Revolutionary Armed Forces.
Frozen assets
The Treasury Department had already recently sanctioned ministers, several generals and the Cuban intelligence services.
When Washington imposes sanctions on people and organizations, any assets they may hold in the United States are frozen. American companies and citizens are prohibited from trading with them, at the risk of being hit by sanctions in turn.
Another grandson of Raul Castro, Raul Guillermo Rodriguez Castro, who according to American media plays a role in the difficult talks underway for several months between the two countries, is however not one of the personalities subject to restrictive measures. This new wave of sanctions “is the latest demonstration of the American interventionist plan aimed at presenting Cuba as a threat to the national security of the United States”reacted on X the Cuban Minister of Foreign Affairs, Bruno Rodriguez.
‘There could be some great resorts’
“The entities and individuals named today direct or finance the regime and its efforts to mobilize its radical revolutionary movements in the United States.”declared in a press release the American Secretary of State, Marco Rubio, of Cuban origin and fierce opponent of the government in Havana. “I am also continuing the dismantling of the military cartel which has monopolized all economic power in Cuba for the benefit of a small circle of regime elites”he added, referring to the business conglomerate linked to the army. This “Business Administration Group”known as GAE.SA or Gaesa, is already the subject of sanctions by Washington and has been weakened in recent weeks by the withdrawal of foreign partners from the island of 9.6 million inhabitants. Several international hotel groups have thus withdrawn from the management of nearly a hundred establishments on the island, most of them associated with Gaesa. And payments by Visa and Mastercard had to be suspended.
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Relations between the United States and Cuba, under embargo since 1962, have become considerably strained since the start of the year. Washington imposes a de facto oil blockade on the island, has issued waves of sanctions against Cuban companies and leaders, and indicted Raul Castro in a case dating back to 1996. Donald Trump believes that the communist island, located 150 kilometers from the coast of Florida, represents “an extraordinary threat” for the national security of the United States. The American president has several times threatened to “take control”.
Asked Thursday in the Oval Office at the White House to find out if these sanctions were aimed at pushing the collapse of the Cuban economy, Donald Trump said he wanted “simply that it is a well-managed country, which can feed its people”. “The country is starving (…) it has no money, it has nothing. He has a beautiful piece of land. There could be some great seaside resorts.”added the American president. “And we’ll take care of it as soon as we’re done. I like to do one thing at a time and we will take care of the Islamic Republic of Iran.”he added.
