Sept. 3 (UPI) — The United States imposed new financial sanctions on a grandson of former Cuban President Raúl Castro, Cuba’s state-owned foreign trade bank and four companies linked to the energy and mining sectors, the State Department said Thursday.
The Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control added Fidel Ernesto Castro Calis, 31, to its list of Specially Designated Nationals.
Castro Calis is the son of Alejandro Castro Espín, who is also under U.S. sanctions. The State Department said Castro Calis was designated as an adult family member of a person blocked under an executive order President Donald Trump signed in May.
“These designations reflect President Trump’s unwavering vision for a free Cuba,” Secretary of State Marco Rubio said.
The sanctions also target Banco Exterior de Cuba, a state-owned financial institution specializing in foreign trade operations and international transactions. Washington designated the bank for operating in Cuba’s financial services sector.
The other sanctioned entities are Comercial CUPET S.A.; Empresa Importadora de Abastecimiento para el Petróleo, known as Abapet; Empresa Importadora y Abastecedora del Níquel, known as Cexni; and Empresa de Servicios Comandante René Ramos Latour, known as Nicarotec.
Comercial CUPET represents state oil company Unión Cuba-Petróleo in negotiations, contracts and joint ventures with foreign companies, according to the State Department. Abapet imports equipment, supplies and other resources for the oil industry.
Nicarotec provides geological, mining and maintenance services for Cuba’s nickel industry, while Cexni manages foreign trade and logistics operations related to nickel and cobalt production.
All property and interests in property belonging to the sanctioned people and entities that are in the United States or under the control of U.S. citizens are blocked. U.S. individuals and companies are prohibited from conducting transactions with them unless specifically authorized.
The executive order also allows Washington to impose restrictions on foreign financial institutions that conduct significant transactions for blocked people or entities. Those measures can include restrictions on access to correspondent accounts in the United States or the blocking of assets.
Washington sanctioned Cuban President Miguel Díaz-Canel, his wife, Lis Cuesta Peraza, and other members of the Díaz-Canel and Castro families in June, including Alejandro Castro Espín and his son Raúl Alejandro Castro Calis, according to a State Department fact sheet.
The Cuban government did not immediately respond publicly to the designations announced Thursday.
The Office of Foreign Assets Control simultaneously issued a general license authorizing certain transactions involving blocked people when necessary for the official activities of third-country diplomatic and consular missions in Cuba. The license does not release any previously blocked assets.
