The United States has imposed a fresh round of sanctions on Cuban state-run companies and officials, Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced. The move targets nine state-owned mining, metal and construction firms, the Ministry of Construction, and figures linked to a Cuban international institute, as Washington continues to escalate economic pressure on Havana under the Trump administration.

Rubio accused those sanctioned of bringing "international sympathizers" to Havana to coincide with Fidel Castro's 100th birthday and of exporting "Marxism, racial resentment, and Communist violence". Among those named is Fernando Gonzalez Llort, president of the Cuban Institute of Friendship with the Peoples and a former member of the "Cuban Five" spy ring. Cuba's foreign minister condemned the sanctions as an attempt to further damage an economy already strained by a US oil blockade that has caused prolonged power cuts and rare public protests.