WASHINGTON—The U.S. State Department on Aug. 6 announced a new round of sanctions on Cuba, targeting five entities and eight individuals involved in procuring weapons and military equipment from abroad for the communist regime’s military and security forces.
“Today, the Trump Administration is taking further action to protect our national security by sanctioning entities and individuals who facilitate Havana’s military relationships and the shipments of arms to the Cuban regime,” U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said in a statement.
These sanctions target state-owned entities, military firms, and officials at Cuba’s Ministry of the Revolutionary Armed Forces (MINFAR), according to the State Department. Among those sanctioned are Cuba’s military attachés to Russia and China, suggesting that much of the regime’s procurement of military equipment is from those two countries.
Rubio, in his statement, accused the communist Cuban regime of sponsoring terrorism, spying on the United States, supporting violent groups, spreading Marxist ideology, and hosting U.S. adversaries such as Russia, China, and Iran to plot operations against America.
“As President [Donald] Trump has said, his resolve is ironclad: the United States will not tolerate a rogue state harboring hostile foreign military, intelligence, and terror operations just ninety miles from the American homeland,” Rubio said.
He added that the U.S. government will continue pressing for reforms in Cuba “to give the Cuban people a better future.”
In a report released on July 20, the State Department explained how the Cuban regime maintains close ties with U.S. adversaries such as Russia and China.
The report, “Cuba: The Capital of 21st Century Communism,” states that Russia and China have provided Cuba with military hardware, surveillance technology, and other equipment. It also says that the Cuban regime has turned the island into a base for foreign adversaries to conduct operations against the United States.
The following entities were sanctioned on Aug. 6: Empresa Cubana Importadora y Exportadora de Productos Técnicos (Tecnoimport), Sociedad Mercantil Duna SA, Unión de Industria Militar, Empresa Militar Industrial Yuri Gagarin, Empresa Cubana Exportadora e Importadora de Servicios, and Articulos y Productos Técnicos Especializados SA.
The sanctioned individuals are Heriberto Sanchez Alleyne, director general of Tecnoimport; Alvaro Victoriano López Miera, minister of the Revolutionary Armed Forces; Roberto Legra Sotolongo, chief of the general staff and first deputy minister of MINFAR; Jose Antonio Remon Rodriguez, head of MINFAR’s Foreign Relations Directorate; Oscar Enrique Biosca Gallego, head of MINFAR’s Economic Directorate; Monica Milian Gomez, Cuba’s military attaché to Russia; and Waldo Perez Cortes, Cuba’s military attaché to China.
In recent months, the Trump administration has increased pressure on Cuba by imposing new sanctions targeting state-owned businesses, government agencies, and senior officials.
On May 20, the Department of Justice announced the indictment of former Cuban leader Raúl Castro on murder charges in the United States.
Trump’s return to the White House in 2025 has reinstated the “maximum pressure” policy, resulting in a breakdown of formal relations between the two countries.
After a U.S. military operation in Venezuela led to the capture and removal of regime leader Nicolás Maduro on Jan. 3, Cuba lost its main economic lifeline—subsidized Venezuelan oil—and entered a severe energy and economic crisis.
