US sanctions Cuban military officials, firms tied to weapons procurement

The US imposed sanctions on five Cuban entities and eight individuals, including high-ranking military officials, for helping Cuba secure weapons and maintain foreign military relationships.

​The United States imposed sanctions Thursday on ​five Cuban entities and ‌eight individuals who ​help Cuba secure weapons and maintain relationships with foreign militaries, including Havana's military attaches to China and Russia.

Secretary ‌of State Marco Rubio announced the designations under an executive order President Donald Trump signed in May that broadened sanctions against Cuban government officials, security forces and their supporters. Thursday's sanctions ‌target subsidiaries of the military conglomerate GAESA, a military holding company and a ‌military aircraft repair business, according to the U.S. State Department. The individuals designated include Alvaro Lopez Miera, minister of the Cuban Ministry of the Revolutionary Armed Forces (MINFAR), as well as Chief of the General ⁠Staff ​Roberto Legra Sotolongo, and ⁠Cuba's military attachés to Russia and China, among others. Rubio said the Cuban government uses its military ⁠and intelligence services to spy on the U.S. and accused the country of serving as a ​staging ground for Russia, China and Iran for operations against it. The action ⁠builds on earlier designations this year of GAESA and MINFAR themselves.

Cuban authorities did not immediately respond ⁠to ​a request for comment. Washington has imposed sanctions on an array of Cuban entities and people, including the island nation's president, as it seeks to intensify pressure on ⁠Cuba's communist leaders. The sanctions followed the United States' declaration of a national emergency this ⁠year that would ⁠impose tariffs on any country that supplies oil to the island, a move that has resulted in frequent power outages.