Washington imposes new sanctions on Cuban regime's military leadership

Washington announced on Thursday sanctions against the Cuban regime's Minister of the Armed Forces, General Álvaro López Miera, as well as other officials and five companies in the island's military-industrial sector.

Those sanctioned are involved in "the procurement and maintenance of weapons and military equipment abroad intended for the military and security forces," explained the State Department's statement.

Cuba is considered a state that "sponsors terrorism" and a "threat to national security," and since the beginning of the year, the country has been increasing economic and diplomatic pressure on the island, which is undergoing one of the worst crises in its recent history.

Cuba: The capital of 21st-century communism

This new wave of sanctions comes following the publication of an extensive and forceful State Department report on Havana's military and diplomatic activities around the world since the triumph of the Castro Revolution, particularly in Latin America and the Caribbean.

That report "details the Cuban regime's ongoing partnerships with Russia and China, both of which supply military hardware, surveillance technologies, and other security capabilities to Cuba," the statement notes.

The others sanctioned

The sanctions target Minister López Miera and his deputy, Roberto Legrá, who is accused of being involved in the purchase of Russian weapons. They also include senior officials within the ministry.

Likewise, Colonel Mónica Milián Gómez, military attaché at the embassy in Moscow, was sanctioned; exile media outlets accuse her of being involved in the alleged recruitment of Cubans to participate in the war against Ukraine.

Waldo Pérez Cortés, the military attaché at the Cuban embassy in Beijing, was also sanctioned.

The list includes entities such as Tecnoimport, Duna, the Union of Military Industry (UIM), and the Yuri Gagarin company, all of which specialize in the purchase and repair of military equipment.

Under U.S. law, those sanctioned may not hold assets or access financial or economic services of any kind in the United States.

In recent months, the Trump administration has sanctioned nearly the entire top leadership of the Cuban regime, as well as companies affiliated with the dictatorship.

It has also filed charges against longtime dictator Raúl Castro, accused of having ordered the shooting down of two civilian aircraft flying from Florida three decades ago when he was Minister of Defense.