President Donald Trump signed an Executive Order on May 1, imposing new sanctions on the Cuban regime. The order broadens the existing sanctions on Cuba to include new restrictions under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act.
President Trump is addressing the national security threats posed by the communist Cuban regime by taking decisive action to hold the Cuban regime, and those that perpetuate it, accountable for its support of hostile actors, terrorism, and regional instability that endanger American security and foreign policy.
The Cuban regime aligns itself with countries and malign actors hostile to the United States, going so far as to facilitate their military and intelligence operations. Indeed, Cuba hosts foreign adversary facilities focused on targeting and exploiting sensitive national security information from the United States.
Cuba maintains close ties to other major state sponsors of terrorism, including the government of Iran, and provides safe haven for transnational terrorist groups, including Hezbollah.
The regime persecutes and tortures political opponents, denies its citizens free speech rights, and actively spreads communist ideology across the region while repressing its people.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio has designated three actors under the new executive order. The first is Grupo de Administracion Empresarial S.A., or GAESA, for operating or having operated in the financial services sector of the Cuban economy. GAESA, a Cuban military-controlled umbrella enterprise, is the heart of Cuba’s kleptocratic communist system. Controlling an estimated 40 percent or more of the island’s economy, GAESA is involved in various sectors of the Cuban economy and is designed to generate income not for the Cuban people, but only for the benefit of its corrupt elites.
While the Cuban people suffer from hunger, disease and chronic under-investment in critical infrastructure such as its power grid, noted Secretary Rubio in a statement, much of the proceeds of GAESA’s activities are funneled into overseas bank accounts. According to recent estimates, GAESA’s revenues are likely more than three times the state’s budget, and GAESA likely controls up to $20 billion in illicit assets.
Ania Guillermina Lastres Morera, or Lastres, was sanctioned for being or having been a member of the board of directors of GAESA. Lastres, the Executive President of GAESA, is responsible for the management of GAESA’s illicit assets held internationally.
Finally, Moa Nickel SA, or MNSA, was sanctioned for operating or having operated in the metals and mining sector of the Cuban economy. “MNSA, a joint venture between Sherritt International Corporation and the Cuban state-owned La Compania General de Niquel, has exploited Cuba’s natural resources to benefit the regime at the expense of the Cuban people,” said Secretary Rubio. “It profits from assets that were originally expropriated by the Cuban regime from U.S. persons and corporations.”
“Just 90 miles from the American homeland,” said Secretary of State Marco Rubio, “the Cuban regime has brought the island to ruin and auctioned off the island as a platform for foreign intelligence, military and terror operations. Additional designations can be expected in the following days and weeks.”