United States has imposed a new round of economic sanctions against Cuba that expands the offensive of the Administration of Donald Trump on the political and business structure of the island. The measures affect three officials of the Cuban Institute of Friendship with the Peoples (ICAP) and nine state entities linked to mining, metals, construction, and foreign trade.
The State Department announced the designations on August 20, and the Office of Foreign Assets Control of the Department of the Treasury, known as OFAC, immediately incorporated the affected persons and entities into its list of specially designated nationals.
The package of measures consists of a selective expansion of the U.S. sanctions regime that blocks the possible assets of the affected Cubans under U.S. jurisdiction, prohibits certain operations, and, above all, warns banks and companies from other countries of the risk of continuing to do business with them.
Who do the new sanctions affect?
The personal sanctions target three members of the ICAP leadership, a state institution dedicated to Cuba's relations with foreign organizations and movements:
- Fernando González Llort, president of the ICAP.
- Noemí Ramona Rabaza Fernández, first vice president.
- Leima Martínez Freire, head of the North America area.
The Secretary of State, Marco Rubio, accuses the ICAP of using educational and cultural exchanges as a cover to maintain a network of political influence in the United States. Washington also links these activities to the events organized for the centenary of Fidel Castro's birth.
These claims are part of the political justification offered by the U.S. government. Havana rejects the accusations and defends the ICAP as an organization of solidarity and international cooperation.
The nine state entities included in the OFAC update are: