Cuba’s foreign minister accuses Rubio of measures aimed at harming economy, limiting services

Rodriguez said the measures were obstructing the transportation of containers carrying food, medicine and medical equipment, much of it purchased by Cuban private micro, small and medium-sized enterprises.

“The US Secretary of State continues to punish Cuban companies with the deliberate purpose of harming our economy and prevent(ing) the government of Cuba from guaranteeing basic services for the population,” he wrote on the US social media platform X.

He said Cubans were already facing a critical situation because of a longstanding US embargo, which Havana refers to as a blockade.

Rodriguez also criticized measures targeting executives and officials of the Cuban Institute of Friendship with the Peoples (ICAP).

The US placed nine state institutions including the Construction Ministry and individuals linked to the mining, foreign trade and metallurgy sectors on its sanctions list, according to media reports.

The measures were reportedly imposed as part of Washington’s pressure campaign aimed at bringing about political and economic change in Cuba.

Three senior officials from the ICAP, an organization previously sanctioned by the US, were also targeted.

They were identified as ICAP President Fernando Gonzalez Llort, First Vice President Noemi Rabaza Fernandez and North America Director Leima Martinez Freire.

Gonzalez Llort was one of five members of the Red Avispa, or Wasp Network, who were convicted and imprisoned in the US before being returned to Cuba.