Rubio says current situation in Cuba is ‘unacceptable’
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said on Tuesday (May 5) that the current situation in Cuba is unacceptable, adding that the US will address it, but not today.
- Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced new sanctions against Cuba’s military junta and elite.
- The sanctions targeted the military-run economic group GAESA and its leaders.
- Rubio indicated that additional sanctions against Cuba are expected in the near future.
WASHINGTON — Secretary of State Marco Rubio slammed Cuba’s military junta and elite with sanctions, hours after a meeting with Pope Leo XIV that focused on the humanitarian crisis on the communist-ruled island.
Rubio said he is using the authority granted by President Donald Trump in a recently issued executive order to sanction the military-run economic group known as GAESA and its leader, Ania Guillermina Lastres Morera. He also sanctioned More Nickel SA, a joint venture that mines and sells nickel in Cuba.
Rubio said in a statement that the sanctions are “part of the Trump administration’s comprehensive campaign to address the urgent national security threat posed by Cuba’s communist regime and to hold accountable the regime and those who provide it with material and financial support.”
He said he believes this punitive action is just the beginning, with additional sanctions designations expected in the coming days and weeks.
The sanctions are the latest attempt by the Trump administration to weaken the Cuban regime and force economic and political changes that will increase Havana’s dependence on the United States.
Since the attack on Venezuela earlier this year, the United States has maintained a near-total oil blockade on Cuba, exacerbating Cuba’s energy crisis. President Trump has instead hammered out an economic-focused deal that his administration hopes will lead to more freedoms and military action and make Cuba’s government more flexible.
On May 1, President Trump signed an executive order imposing new sanctions on individuals and entities that support the Cuban government and security services and are complicit in “government corruption and gross human rights violations.”
The order accused the Cuban government of maintaining close ties with state sponsors of terrorism, providing safe haven to Iranian proxies such as Hezbollah, denying its citizens free speech, and torturing and persecuting political opponents.
Cuba is already considered a state sponsor of terrorism by the United States and is subject to harsh sanctions and a restrictive trade embargo.
This story has been updated to add new information.
Contributor: Joey Garrison
