Sept 3 (Reuters) – The United States on Thursday slapped new sanctions on five Cuban companies and the grandson of 95-year-old revolutionary leader Raul Castro, as the Trump administration mounts economic pressure on the Communist-run Caribbean island.
The U.S. State Department said it was sanctioning Fidel Ernesto Castro, 31, for being an adult family member of other sanctioned members of the Castro family.
His grandfather Raul Castro was a foundational figure of the 1959 Cuban revolution and led the country from 2006 when his brother, Fidel Castro, fell ill. He served as president until 2018 but continued to wield significant influence in government.
Washington also issued sanctions on the Banco Exterior de Cuba, a state-owned bank, and two companies involved in Cuba’s nickel mining industry and another two companies active in Cuba’s struggling energy sector, including an oil import company.
The U.S. has since early this year imposed a blockade on Cuban access to oil, threatening tariffs on countries that continue to ship supplies there.
This has exacerbated an already weak power grid, causing repeated nationwide blackouts and further limiting the transport of goods and people’s access to healthcare. The United Nations has warned this could trigger a humanitarian crisis.
Cuban authorities detailed plans in late July to open up key sectors of its economy to private industry in a bid to survive the U.S. sanctions.
(Reporting by Sarah Morland in Mexico City, Bhargav Acharya and Ismail Shakil in Ottawa; Editing by Susan Heavey and Iñigo Alexander)
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