Overview
- The executive order, signed Friday, authorizes sanctions on any foreign person in Cuba’s energy, defense, mining, finance, or security sectors and permits secondary penalties on those who help them.
- In Florida remarks the same day, President Trump said the U.S. would “take over” Cuba “almost immediately,” suggesting an aircraft carrier could wait offshore.
- Cuba’s foreign minister rejected the measures as “collective punishment,” with May Day marches in Havana denouncing what officials called unilateral coercion.
- The White House cast Cuba as aligned with Iran and Hezbollah, yet the administration had not released names of specific targets under the new order.
- The extraterritorial reach could expose banks and companies in Europe and China to U.S. penalties, echoing the secondary‑sanctions model used against Iran.