US issues new Cuba sanctions as UN experts warn of ‘energy starvation’

Latest sanctions target military-controlled conglomerate, come as effective US fuel blockade continues.The United States has imposed a host of new sanctions related to Cuba, amid a months-long pressure campaign against the island nation.The sanctions on Thursday were announced hours after United Nations experts decried Washington’s effective fuel blockade of the island as tantamount to “energy starvation”.Recommended Stories list of 3 itemslist 1 of 3Cuban president defiant amid US pressure and energy blockade threatslist 2 of 3Cuba confirms talks with US officials, wants end to Trump’s energy blockadelist 3 of 3Petro becomes first president to visit Venezuela since Maduro abductionend of listThe measures target Grupo de Administracion Empresarial SA (GAESA), a conglomerate ‌controlled by the country’s military with ties to nearly all segments of its economy.They also targeted Ania Guillermina Lastres Morera, the executive president of GAESA and Moa Nickel SA (MNSA), a joint venture between Toronto-based Sherritt ⁠International Corp and Cuba’s state-owned ⁠nickel company.Sherritt said in a statement on its website on Thursday that it had ‌suspended its direct participation in joint venture activities in Cuba following the sanctions.In a statement posted on X, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said the sanctions “demonstrate that the Trump Administration will not stand by while Cuba’s communist regime threatens our national security in our hemisphere”.“We will continue to take action until the regime takes all necessary political and economic reforms,” he said.Cuba’s government did not immediately reply to the latest round of sanctions, but condemned an earlier round announced this week as “unilateral coercive measures” and “collective punishment on the Cuban people”.The Trump Administration has heaped increasing pressure on Cuba’s communist government following the January 3 abduction of Venezuelan leader Nicolas Maduro.