The United States announced Thursday sanctions against Fidel Ernesto Castro Calis, one of the grandsons of historic Cuban leader Raúl Castro, as well as five Cuban economic and banking entities.
“Among those designated today are a grandson of Raúl Castro, Fidel Ernesto Castro Calis, Banco Exterior de Cuba and four entities that exploit Cuba’s natural resources or energy reserves for the benefit of the regime,” U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said in a statement.
The new round of sanctions comes amid a stalemate in negotiations between Washington and Havana. The administration of President Donald Trump is demanding fundamental political and economic changes from the island, while the Cuban government has denounced the oil blockade it says it has faced for six months, in addition to the decades-old U.S. trade embargo.
Fidel Ernesto Castro Calis, 31, is the son of Alejandro Castro Espín, a brigadier general and one of the regime’s prominent figures. Castro Espín was also recently sanctioned by the United States.
Raúl Castro, 95, the surviving historic leader of the 1959 Cuban Revolution, is formally accused in U.S. court over the deaths of four Americans killed when two aircraft belonging to an anti-Castro group were shot down in 1996. At the time, Raúl Castro was Cuba’s defense minister.
