US imposes new sanctions on Cuba tourism ministry, state-owned companies | Politics News | Al Jazeera

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Cubans suffered their fourth nationwide blackout of the year last week [File: Norlys Perez/Reuters]

By Al Jazeera Staff

Published On 13 Jul 202613 Jul 2026

The United States Department of the Treasury has sanctioned Cuba’s Ministry of Tourism and other entities amid growing tensions between Havana and Washington, DC.<br>On Monday, the US imposed sanctions covering two state-owned companies as well: Grupo Empresarial de Transporte Maritimo Portuario (GEMAR) and Grupo Empresarial del Comercio Exterior (GECOMEX), according to the sanctions published on the department’s website.<br>Recommended Stories<br>list of 4 itemslist 1 of 4Syrians optimistic but cautious as sanctions removal revives economic hopes<br>list 2 of 4Japan’s pet care industry booms as ‘fur babies’ outnumber infants<br>list 3 of 4Oil prices jump as US and Iran trade attacks over Strait of Hormuz<br>list 4 of 4How former Emir Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani built Qatar’s economy<br>end of list<br>The agency said it is giving companies and financial institutions that do business with the state-owned companies until August 12 to wind down existing contracts without facing sanctions.<br>The new sanctions follow an executive order in May that allowed the US to freeze any US-based assets belonging to people or organisations supporting Cuba’s government or economy. The order also increased pressure on banks that work with Cuban entities.

During an interview on Fox Business on Sunday, United Nations Ambassador Mike Waltz called Cuba’s regime “a national security threat”. Waltz also accused both Russia and China of “collecting information around our military bases in Cuba”.<br>The new sanctions are among the latest pressures weighing on Cuba. The US oil blockade has caused widespread electricity blackouts. More than 10 million people were hit last Friday in the second nationwide outage of the week and the fourth of the year.<br>The White House imposed the blockade on Havana after the US abducted Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro in January. Venezuela was the primary fuel supplier to Cuba. Mexico, another supplier, also halted oil shipments following pressure from Washington.<br>Advertisement

Last week, during a UN General Assembly debate, Waltz blamed Cuba’s leaders for the outage, saying, “Change your ways and turn the lights back on for your people”.<br>Cuba’s Minister of Foreign Affairs, Bruno Rodriguez Parrilla, pushed back at the remarks and sanctions, calling them “an act of collective punishment” and “a systematic violation of the human rights of an entire people.”<br>In the debate, Parrilla noted that overall US embargoes between March 2025 and February 2026 alone accounted for $8bn in damage, in addition to the “extreme impact” of the fuel blockade.

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