The United States has introduced a new round of sanctions targeting Cuba, deepening an ongoing months-long pressure campaign against the island nation.
According to Al Jazeera, the measures, announced on Thursday, were released just hours after United Nations experts criticized Washington’s restrictions on fuel supplies to Cuba, warning that the situation amounts to what they described as “energy starvation.”
They also argued that recent U.S. actions linked to a May 1 executive order from the White House and subsequent blockade measures are worsening humanitarian and economic conditions on the island and increasing tensions.
In a press release forwarded by the Embassy of the Republic of Cuba, the country’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs strongly rejected both the May 1, 2026, executive order issued by the White House and the latest sanctions announced by the U.S. Department of the Treasury on May 7, 2026.
The ministry said the executive order escalates the long-standing economic, financial, and commercial blockade against Cuba to what it described as unprecedented levels. It also condemned the Treasury Department’s decision to place Cuban entities Gaesa and MoaNickel S.A. on the Specially Designated Nationals List, calling it the first enforcement action under the new order.
According to Havana, the move represents a severe form of economic pressure designed to extend the effects of the blockade beyond U.S. borders.
Officials warned that it “constitutes an act of ruthless economic aggression that multiplies the extraterritorial effects of the blockade, with the potential application of secondary sanctions against foreign companies, banks, and entities, even if their business operations in the United States have no connection to Cuba.”
In its statement, the ministry also linked the latest measures to earlier restrictions imposed in January 2026 that disrupted fuel imports, arguing that the combined impact is further straining Cuba’s already fragile economy.
Cuban officials accused the United States of using its economic power to pressure other countries into complying with its sanctions regime.
“Acting as a global policeman and in flagrant violation of international law and the basic rules of free trade in goods and services, it explicitly and brazenly attacks the sovereign right of all States that have or wish to maintain economic, commercial, and financial relations with Cuba,” said the release.
The statement also criticized U.S. officials for allegedly using diplomatic and financial pressure to discourage international engagement with Cuba, framing this approach as an attempt to isolate the country from global markets.
Havana described the sanctions as part of a broader strategy intended to weaken the Cuban economy and increase hardship for its population. Officials argued that the cumulative effect of the blockade and related measures is contributing to shortages and economic instability, which they say could lead to a wider humanitarian crisis.
The ministry further warned that worsening conditions could be used as justification for additional escalatory steps against the country. It rejected any suggestion that external pressure should be used to influence Cuba’s political or economic system.
Cuba said it will continue to raise the issue in international forums, maintaining that the sanctions violate principles of sovereignty and international law. It also called on the global community to oppose the tightening of U.S. restrictions and to resist what it described as efforts to impose unilateral control over Cuba’s economic relations.
Officials emphasized that the country will continue defending its position diplomatically while urging other states not to comply with extraterritorial measures linked to the U.S. sanctions regime.
“We denounce the criminal nature of these aggressive measures aimed at forcing the entire Cuban population to surrender through hunger and desperation and at attempting to create a social, economic, and political catastrophe on a national scale. We also reject the U.S. government’s intention to create a humanitarian crisis in order to justify more dangerous actions, including military aggression against Cuba.”
Historically, the US embargo on Cuba dates back to 1962 and lasted until 2014, when they were lifted under President Barack Obama’s tenure.
In January 2026, Donald Trump’s administration imposed renewed sanctions, enacting an energy blockade on the country, with even broader implications as of May 1.
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Read the full statement from the Cuban government below:
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs rejects, in the strongest terms, the Executive Order issued by the White House on May 1, 2026, which intensifies, to extreme and unprecedented levels, the economic, financial, and commercial blockade against Cuba.
Likewise, it condemns the decision by the U.S. Department of the Treasury on May 7, 2026, which added the Cuban entities Gaesa and MoaNickel S.A. to the Specially Designated Nationals List, this being the first coercive measure resulting from the order signed on May 1.
This constitutes an act of ruthless economic aggression that multiplies the extraterritorial effects of the blockade, with the potential application of secondary sanctions against foreign companies, banks, and entities, even if their business operations in the United States have no connection to Cuba. The measure will further hinder the functioning of the national economy, which has already been facing, since January 29, 2026, the disastrous effects of the oil blockade imposed on that date, which paralyzed fuel exports to the country.
Acting as a global policeman and in flagrant violation of international law and the basic rules of free trade in goods and services, it explicitly and brazenly attacks
Acting as the world’s policeman and in flagrant violation of international law and the basic rules of free trade in goods and services, the sovereign right of all States that have or wish to maintain economic, commercial, and financial relations with Cuba is being explicitly, blatantly, and directly attacked. The highest U.S. authorities, particularly the Secretary of State, are attempting to force the international community, through blackmail and intimidation, to submit to and comply with the blockade.
No country is exempt from this threat to extend the genocide against the Cuban people, in an attempt to force Cuba’s isolation from the international economic and financial arena.
We warn that this aggression against the Cuban economy and people would only achieve its intended destructive effect if sovereign and independent nations allow themselves to be intimidated by the U.S. government. We know that the world will never meekly accept illegal norms, will not renounce sovereign equality, nor will it leave its citizens, businesspeople, corporations, and financial institutions unprotected. The international community has historically opposed and condemned the genocide being committed against the people of Cuba by the United States government, which has lasted nearly seven decades.
We denounce the criminal nature of these aggressive measures aimed at forcing the entire Cuban population to surrender through hunger and desperation and at attempting to create a social, economic, and political catastrophe on a national scale. We also reject the U.S. government’s intention to create a humanitarian crisis in order to justify more dangerous actions, including military aggression against Cuba.
In all international forums, Cuba will continue to denounce the blockade. Likewise, we urge the international community to confront this onslaught, which constitutes a dangerous escalation in the U.S. quest to exercise domination and control Cuba’s destiny, thereby violating the independence and sovereignty of all states.
Havana, May 7, 2026
