Cuba’s remaining lifelines in peril as Trump widens U.S. sanctions

Donald Trump’s administration continues to threaten military force to dislodge the 67-year-old regime. On Friday, Trump unveiled measures that would allow Washington to target almost any non-US citizen or entity involved in business on the island. Photo by YAMIL LAGE /AFP via Getty Images

Article content

Sweeping new U.S. economic sanctions on Cuba could chase international companies off the island as Donald Trump’s administration continues to threaten military force to dislodge the 67-year-old regime.

Article content

On Friday, Trump unveiled measures that would allow Washington to target almost any non-U.S. citizen or entity involved in business on the island. While specific targets are yet to be determined, the order says it will focus on defense, mining, finance and security.

Article content

Article content

Article content

The sanctions raise questions for companies including Turkey’s Karpowership — which runs an energy barge in Havana — and Canada’s Sherritt International, which mines for nickel and cobalt in Cuba, said William LeoGrande, a professor of government and a specialist in U.S.-Latin American relations at American University in Washington.

Article content

Article content

Also under the latest sanctions, financial institutions that have handled transactions with certain Cuban individuals and entities could be cut out of the US banking system.

Article content

“These sanctions are incredibly, incredibly broad,” LeoGrande said, adding that he expects the Trump administration to eventually use the new economic weapon to “terrify” companies into quitting the island.

Article content

Karpowership and Sherritt didn’t respond to requests for comment outside of business hours.

Article content

Hours after publishing the sanctions, Trump teased a possible military intervention in Cuba in comments to an audience in Florida. In what appeared to be a joke, he said that when the USS Abraham Lincoln aircraft carrier returns from the war with Iran it could “stop about 100 yards offshore” Cuba “and they’ll say ‘Thank you very much, we give up.’”

Article content

Article content

“We will be taking over almost immediately,” Trump claimed.

Article content

Article content

Trump’s administration has imposed a near-total fuel blockade on the island since January as it presses for outright regime change. Cuba has said that, although the two sides are negotiating, its form of government and its leadership aren’t up for discussion.

Article content

On Saturday, Cuban President Miguel Díaz-Canel called the new US military threats “dangerous and unprecedented.”

Article content

“The international community must take note and, together with the people of the United States, determine whether such a drastic criminal act will be allowed,” he wrote on X. “No aggressor, no matter how powerful, will force Cuba to surrender.”

Article content

Article content