US sanctions 5 Cuban firms, Castro family member in pressure push
What's new: The measures freeze any US-based assets and cut the listed companies and individual off from the US financial system.
The United States imposed sanctions on five Cuban companies tied to the military-linked conglomerate GAESA and on Annalie Lilliam, the wife of Alejandro Castro Espin, in Washington's latest move to tighten pressure on Cuba. The targeted firms include financial intermediaries Rafin and Banco Financiero Internacional, logistics company Almacenes Universales, state-owned miner Geominera and steel producer Antillana de Acero. The sanctions block any assets under US jurisdiction and bar access to the US financial system and dealings with US counterparts. Secretary of State Marco Rubio described GAESA as a key financial pillar of Cuba's security apparatus, while Cuba's foreign minister, Bruno Rodriguez, accused Washington of deepening the island's economic crisis.