State Department imposes new sanctions on Cuba

Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced Thursday that the United States is imposing new sanctions on individuals and entities in Cuba as part of an economic pressure campaign. 

The latest sanctions target the leaders of the Cuban Institute of Friendship with the Peoples, which the secretary claimed exploits educational exchange with the goal of “identifying, cultivating, and radicalizing subversives.” 

"The Trump Administration will not stand by while a hostile foreign power seeks to exploit our freedoms—none of which are afforded to its people—by misleading and corrupting American citizens with lies, spy tradecraft, and other malfeasance as part of the regime’s raison d’être of exporting Marxism, racial resentment, and Communist violence across the world," Rubio said in a statement. 

The secretary said the latest sanctions target three leaders of ICAP and nine entities, including the Ministry of Construction of Cuba, that sustain the regime’s repressive apparatus through control of key economic sectors.

Rubio also highlighted Cuba's recent attempt to "reinvigorate" its network by hosting an event in Washington, D.C., last week that celebrated Fidel Castro’s 100th birthday.

"Today’s designations make clear that the Trump Administration will not tolerate the Cuban regime’s efforts to fund its repression or continue its decades-long campaign of subversive anti-American activities," he said.

Misty Severi is a news reporter for Just The News. You can follow her on X for more coverage.