Rubio Sanctions Cuba’s Oil Machine

Secretary of State Marco Rubio on Thursday announced multiple sanctions against the Cuban communist regime, this time targeting the regime’s cash cow.

“Today, I am sanctioning Cuba’s state-owned energy company, Unión Cuba-Petróleo (CUPET), under President Trump’s EO 14404,” Rubio wrote on X. “Cuba’s Communist elites have weaponized energy as a tool of social control and kleptocratic profit.”

“For decades, the regime has stolen and hoarded available fuel—using it for the Castros’ private jet, the security services forces used to repress the Cuban people, to keep empty tourist hotels lit up, and to bus people in for fake protests and political stunts—all while the Cuban people have suffered blackouts and waited weeks to fill their cars,” he added.

Cuba’s communist regime has been designated as a state sponsor of terrorism by the United States since 2021. The regime has also been accused by numerous human rights organizations of severe violations, including forced starvation of its people, severe political imprisonment and executions, and censoring the information provided to its people.

The petroleum company sanctioned by the secretary serves as a leading contributor of wealth for the regime’s military arm, known as GAESA.

GAESA currently has over $10 billion in reserves, Cuban American lawmaker Rep. Carlos Gimenez, R-Fla., told the Daily Signal at a press conference earlier this month.

Rubio added that the sanctions are not the last action President Donald Trump’s administration will take against the Cuban regime.

“President Trump wants a new future for the Cuban people with greater economic and political freedom and opportunity. Until then, we will continue to target the Communist regime’s ability to leverage its energy trade,” the secretary said.

In May, the Department of Justice also announced criminal charges against Cuba’s former communist dictator, Raul Castro, and his family members, for the downing of a humanitarian rescue flight that took place over Cuba in the 1990s.