Overview
- The U.S. State Department designated Fidel Ernesto Castro Calis and five Cuban entities under Executive Order 14404 on Thursday, Sept. 3, 2026, targeting a state foreign-trade bank, two nickel-sector firms and two energy-sector/CUPET-linked companies.
- The Treasury’s OFAC added Fidel Ernesto Castro Calis to the Specially Designated Nationals list, which blocks any U.S.-connected property and forbids U.S. persons from dealing with the listed parties.
- The State Department and OFAC warned that foreign banks and firms that continue significant transactions with the designated parties face secondary sanctions such as restricted access to U.S. correspondent accounts.
- Sanctions specifically hit firms that import oil-sector equipment and nickel-sector inputs, and experts say those restrictions are likely to worsen Cuba’s power outages, raise costs for spare parts, and deepen humanitarian strain on ordinary Cubans.
- Cuban officials condemned the measures as collective punishment, U.S. officials framed them as part of a push to weaken the regime’s financial and resource networks, and Washington signaled further designations and extraterritorial pressure could follow.