Overview
- The U.S. Treasury this week placed President Miguel Díaz‑Canel, members of the Castro family, the Cuban armed forces and the Comités de Defensa de la Revolución on sanctions lists and linked an executive order to penalties for dealings with Gaesa.
- The executive order creates a mechanism for freezing U.S. assets and for secondary sanctions that threaten foreign banks and companies that continue business with Gaesa or Gaesa‑linked counterparties.
- Following the administration’s ultimatum tied to the order, major firms including Meliá, Iberostar and Blue Diamond announced withdrawals or suspensions of Cuban hotels while Visa and MasterCard said card services will be interrupted starting June 6.
- Shipping withdrawals by Hapag‑Lloyd and CMA CGM and airline suspensions have already disrupted trade routes and forced the World Food Programme to cancel shipments, worsening shortages of food, fuel and electricity on the island.
- Havana rejects U.S. characterizations of Gaesa as opaque, Spain has expressed strong concern, and analysts warn the measures could deepen Cuba’s humanitarian crisis and limit European firms’ ability to respond because of legal and financial risk.