Foreign Minister Marco Rubio stated in his declaration that 'four state companies depleting Cuba's nickel reserves for the regime; four military companies involved in developing weapon systems, naval capabilities, and combat modeling; as well as three military officials commanding them' have been placed under sanctions.
These sanctions were introduced under Executive Order by President Donald Trump titled 'Imposing Sanctions on Those Responsible for Repression in Cuba and Threats to U.S. National Security and Foreign Policy.'
Rubio emphasized that 'for decades, the Cuban regime has directed all of the island's resources toward a small and corrupt military elite, leaving ordinary Cubans without electricity, food, or dignity.'
He added that 'the Trump administration will not stand idly by while the Cuban elite enriches itself through resource extraction and concentrates it in Cuba's repressive security apparatus, while the Cuban people suffer from shortages.'
In the same statement, the foreign minister noted that 'President Trump maintains his commitment to a Cuba governed by its people, not by a military caste that views the island's future as its private inheritance.'
The island, governed by the Communist Party, has been experiencing a serious economic crisis for six years, which worsened in January when the United States began an oil embargo accompanied by a number of additional sanctions to force political and economic changes on the island.
This crisis manifests in shortages of food, medicine, and fuel, daily long power outages, uncontrolled inflation, and growing dollarization.