The U.S. government on Tuesday imposed fresh sanctions on several Cuban entities, signaling an escalation of financial pressure on the nation’s government. The Treasury Department added Banco Financiero Internacional SA and GeoMinera SA to its sanctions list, alongside a state-run steelmaker, a non-bank financial firm, a logistics company, and Annalie Lilliam Rueda Cardero.
Banco Financiero Internacional - commonly referred to as BFI - operates within Grupo de Administración Empresarial SA, the military-run conglomerate that controls significant segments of Cuba’s economy. The Treasury’s action identifies BFI as Cuba’s principal commercial bank, responsible for conducting hard-currency transactions with foreign firms.
GeoMinera SA, which falls under the ministry overseeing mining and energy, was also designated. The company is noted to collaborate with Trafigura Group on a zinc mining operation in western Cuba. The article states that Trafigura halted shipments to some Chinese customers earlier this month amid tighter sanctions and an energy crisis.
In addition to the bank and the mining firm, the Treasury targeted Empresa Siderúrgica José Martí, known as Antillana de Acero, a state-owned steelmaker. The U.S. statement said GeoMinera and Antillana de Acero were singled out because they produce revenue for the Cuban government through extraction and sale of the country’s mineral and metal resources.
The sanctions package also named Annalie Lilliam Rueda Cardero, described as an author and reporter who is married to General Alejandro Castro Espín, son of the 95-year-old former president Raúl Castro.
The U.S. announcement included a statement attributed to Marco Rubio, identified as U.S. Secretary of State in the release, saying: "Gaesa continues to operate as the financial muscle behind the Cuban regime’s repressive security apparatus." The statement accompanied the new Office of Foreign Assets Control designations.
This set of designations expands a suite of measures aimed at constricting revenue streams linked to Cuba’s state and military-run economic activities, naming entities across banking, mining, steel production, logistics and non-bank financial services.