Rubio Expands Sanctions on Cuba's Doctors, Ports and Oil

The Trump administration sanctioned nine more Cuban entities and two individuals last week, including Cuba's health minister, the state company that manages the island's overseas medical missions, the agency that recruits doctors for them and the director who runs it.

The move further expands an ever-growing list of Cuban entities targeted by Trump's May 1 executive order, which imposes "secondary sanctions" on non-U.S. companies doing business with blacklisted Cuban entities.

The State Department also sanctioned Cuba's main port terminal at Mariel and the companies that run it, the country’s primary remittance processor, two fuel importers, and CEINPET, the research arm of the state oil company that develops techniques to refine locally produced crude oil. Unlike past designations, this one doesn't only seek to cut off oil imports — it targets Cuba's efforts to use the oil it already has.

Among the new blacklisted names is CEIBA Investments, a company based in Guernsey, a dependency of the British crown, which owns the Miramar Trade Center in Havana and holds stakes in several Meliá hotels. 

CEIBA is the first non-Cuban, non-U.S. company designated under the May 1 executive order, further extending the reach of the Trump administration’s economic war beyond Cuban and U.S. entities. Previously, other foreign investors such as Sherritt International and Antilles Gold, were sanctioned indirectly through joint ventures with Cuban companies.

The sanctions on Cuba's international health apparatus follow months of U.S. pressure on governments around the world to expel Cuban medical missions. One government that has not bent under the pressure is Calabria's. Check out our documentary about the Cuban medical mission serving in one of Italy's most impoverished regions HERE.