US Treasury Sanctions Cuban President, Castro Family Members

The United States has intensified pressure on Cuba's leadership by imposing sanctions on President Miguel Díaz-Canel, his wife, and key figures within the Castro family. The U.S. Treasury Department updated its Specially Designated Nationals (SDN) list to include President Díaz-Canel under an executive order related to Cuba.

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The sanctioned individuals include Lis Cuesta Peraza, Díaz-Canel's wife, as well as Alejandro Castro Espín, son of former President Raúl Castro and considered a key power broker in Cuba, and his grandson Raúl Alejandro Castro Calis. Manuel Anido Cuesta, a relative of Díaz-Canel's wife, was also added to the list. Raúl Castro himself faces charges from the U.S. Justice Department related to the 1996 downing of a U.S.-based exile group's aircraft by Cuban forces.

In addition to individual sanctions, the U.S. has expanded restrictions to include Cuban government entities. The Treasury Department designated the Committees for the Defense of the Revolution (CDR), responsible for security and social control, the Revolutionary Armed Forces Ministry (MINFAR), which serves as Cuba's defense ministry, and the Cuban Institute of Friendship with Peoples (ICAP), an organization for foreign relations.

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We just want the country to be a normally functioning country that can feed its people.

When asked if the sanctions were aimed at regime collapse, President Donald Trump stated, "No." He clarified, "We just want the country to be a normally functioning country that can feed its people." Trump highlighted Cuba's dire economic situation, noting, "The country is starving, and has no energy, no oil, no money. It has nothing."

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The country is starving, and has no energy, no oil, no money. It has nothing.