This is the latest Washington move in its strict pressure campaign against the communist-ruled island.
Read more Keenan Evans shone brightly again in Kaunas
“Among the entities named today is Raul Castro’s grandson Fidel Ernesto Castro Calis (Fidel Ernesto Castro Calis), Banco Exterior de Cuba, and four entities using Cuba’s natural resources or energy resources for the regime’s benefit,” US Secretary of State Marco Rubio stated in a statement.
95-year-old R. Castro no longer holds any official positions but remains one of the most influential figures on the island. Washington has charged him this year with four murders.
In June, the US had already imposed sanctions on members of the R. Castro family, as well as on President Miguel Diaz-Canel and his family.
F. E. Castro Calis is not known to hold any political role in Cuba. Sanctions had already been applied to his parents earlier.
His father Alejandro Castro Espinas is the only son of R. Castro and was a key figure in the secret Cuba-US negotiations that led to the restoration of diplomatic relations between the two countries in 2015.
Read more Volodymyr Zelensky expects to receive US envoys in Kyiv in the coming days
Although the US trade embargo on Cuba has been in place since 1962, US President Donald Trump has drastically increased pressure in recent months by cutting off fuel supplies and threatening to take control of the island.
D. Trump has repeatedly threatened to overthrow Cuba’s leadership after removing Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro in a military operation this January.
The crushing energy blockade has further deepened Cuba’s economic crisis.
Officials and businessmen from the Trump administration had previously met with other Castro family members, such as another R. Castro grandson Raul Guillermo Rodriguez Castro.
One of the state entities sanctioned on Thursday, Banco Exterior De Cuba, is a bank mainly focused on international operations, trade financing, and business banking.
Other sanctioned state-related entities include companies working in the nickel and cobalt industries, as well as two companies closely cooperating with the state energy company CUPET.
