The United States has intensified its economic pressure on Cuba with a new round of sanctions targeting nine state-owned mining, metal, and construction companies, escalating a longstanding campaign of isolation spearheaded by President Donald Trump.
On Thursday, the US Treasury Department announced the sanctions, designating these entities as sanctioned under the US Treasury’s website. The list includes companies like GEOMINSAL, a major cobalt and nickel producer, and government-controlled import entities.
These sanctions are part of a broader strategy to isolate Cuba, mirroring the administration’s previous efforts to alter Cuba’s political landscape. Trump, in a statement released by Secretary of State Marco Rubio, framed the targeted industries as a threat to national security, accusing them of aiding the regime’s repressive apparatus and promoting Marxist ideology.
Rubio also criticized ICAP, Cuba’s Institute of Friendship with the Peoples, for allegedly organizing a ‘subversive network’ of ‘international sympathisers’ to assist the Cuban government’s goals, including exporting Marxism and Communist violence abroad.
Following the military operation to abduct and imprison Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro on January 3, Trump has explicitly stated his intention to ‘change the government’ in Cuba, with a focus on regime change. He has proposed a ‘friendly takeover’ of the island, with negotiations ongoing between US and Cuban officials regarding a potential resignation of President Miguel Diaz-Canel.
The US has long sought to isolate Cuba through political and economic measures, with a decades-long strategy of sanctions and embargoes. Since the mid-20th century, Cuba has been governed as a socialist state under the one-party rule of the Communist Party of Cuba.
In remarks earlier this year, Trump indicated that, once the US-Israeli war against Iran ends, ‘Cuba is next’ for regime change. He has floated ideas including a ‘friendly takeover’ and has initiated negotiations with Cuban officials.
To destabilize Diaz-Canel’s government, the Trump administration has implemented a series of measures, including a de facto fuel blockade that began in January. Trump has cut off Cuba’s oil supply from Venezuela and imposed tariffs, resulting in a significant reduction in the island’s oil exports.
Furthermore, Trump has ordered the imposition of far-reaching sanctions on individuals and entities responsible for repression in Cuba, citing the need to bolster US national security. In May, Trump unveiled an executive order authorizing the US government to impose sanctions on those ‘responsible for repression’ in Cuba. Thursday’s economic measures are justified as a step in this campaign.
The US estimates that the sanctions are having a detrimental impact on Cuban economy, particularly with energy blackouts and shortages of essential goods like medicine and food. UN experts have warned that these restrictions could trigger a humanitarian crisis, with a rise in infant mortality rates and a decline in survival among children with cancer. Turk, in a March statement, highlighted these health outcomes as a consequence of the increasing restrictions on the island, warning that they are fueling the growing health crisis.
Source: Al Jazeera
