The U.S. Department of the Treasury announced this Thursday the adoption of sanctions against five companies and eight high-ranking officials related to Cuba's military structure, including the Chief of the Army General Staff, Roberto Legra, and the Minister of Defense, Álvaro López.
The measure, driven by the Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC, for its initials in English), also affects Mónica Milian, military attaché at the Cuban Embassy in Moscow and spokesperson for the Cuban Revolutionary Armed Forces in Russia; and Waldo Pérez, who holds the same position at the Cuban diplomatic mission in the Chinese capital, Beijing.
The list of sanctioned individuals also includes the head of the Economic Directorate of the Cuban Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Óscar Biosca; the head of Foreign Affairs of the Ministry of the Armed Forces, José Antonio Remón; the director of the Military Industries Union (UIM), officer Roberto Jesús Viciana; and the director of Tecnoimport, General Heriberto Sánchez.
Along with UIM and Tecnoimport, OFAC has decided to impose sanctions on three other companies: Tecnotex, Military Industrial Company Yuri Gagarin, and Duna Commercial Company, for their involvement in the purchase of military material from Russia and China.