US diplomat Rubio targets Cuban military officials, companies in sanctions

Marco Rubio, the top diplomat for the United States, has announced sanctions against five Cuban companies and eight individuals accused of helping the island procure military equipment for its armed forces.

In a social media post on Thursday, Rubio used the sanctions to renew President Donald Trump’s threats against the Cuban government, which he characterised as a danger to US national security.

“The Cuban Communist regime is a state sponsor of terrorism that spies on America, arms violent left-wing radicals, spreads poisonous Marxist ideology, and serves as a staging ground for Russia, China & Iran just 90 miles from our shores,” Rubio wrote.

“As President Trump has said: the United States will not tolerate a rogue state harboring hostile military, intelligence & terror operations on our doorstep.”

The announcement is part of a trend of increasing sanctions on Cuba, an island in the Caribbean Sea long locked in a decades-long conflict with the US over clashing political and economic ideologies.

Trump, however, has tightened US restrictions on the island since returning to office for a second term as president in 2025, as part of his “maximum pressure” campaign.

He also reinstated Cuba as a “state sponsor of terrorism”, a label he first applied in 2021, during the final month of his first term.

Since January, Trump has suggested he could take military action against Cuba. That, in turn, has prompted reports to emerge indicating that the island has bolstered its defences, including by purchasing drones.

Who is sanctioned?

Thursday’s sanctions reference US concerns about Cuba’s efforts to buy and maintain military equipment, while strengthening ties with countries like Russia, Iran and China.

Among the businesses targeted is Tecnoimport, which the US State Department says imports military equipment from Russia and China on behalf of Cuba’s armed forces.

The sanctions also hit the Union de Industria Militar (UIM), which manufactures and repairs weapons systems, and EMI Yuri Gagarin, which the US says repairs and maintains Cuba’s fleet of Russian-made military aircraft.

The individuals targeted include some of Cuba’s top military leaders, like Defence Minister Alvaro Lopez Miera and Chief of the General Staff Roberto Legra Sotolongo.

The sanctions freeze any assets the targeted entities hold in the US and bar Americans from doing business with them.

Foreign banks and companies with business in the US could also face sanctions if they continue working with them.

A long-running trend

The sanctions are the latest in a series of aggressive economic moves by the Trump administration against Cuba.

Last month, the Treasury Department sanctioned nine entities and two individuals, accusing them of helping the Cuban government maintain control over the country’s energy, financial and overseas medical labour sectors – and evading earlier US sanctions.

The State Department said the measures build on a 100-page report released last month titled “Cuba: The Capital of 21st Century Communism”.

That report portrayed Cuba as the “connective tissue” of a global “anti-American coalition”. It even alleged that Havana exerts ideological influence over left-wing advocacy groups in the US.

The report drew immediate criticism from academics and activists. Antoni Kapcia, an emeritus professor of Latin American history at the University of Nottingham in England, called its central claims “complete nonsense”.

In May, Trump issued an executive order authorising broad penalties against people and organisations accused of supporting Cuba’s security apparatus.

Rubio referenced that executive order in Thursday’s statement. He said the Trump administration would continue using “every tool” at its disposal to counter what it described as threats by the Cuban government.