US sanctions target Cuban bank BFI and GAESA-linked firms amid reform push

On June 23 the United States added five Cuban state entities and one individual to its sanctions blacklist. The most critical target is Banco Financiero Internacional (BFI), the commercial bank that processes the majority of foreign transactions in Cuba. Other sanctions hit Almacenes Universales (Cuba’s main logistics and warehousing company), Rafin S.A. (a financial arm linked to the military‑run conglomerate GAESA), the state mining firm GeoMinera, the country’s largest raw‑steel producer Empresa Siderúrgica José Martí, and Annalie Lilliam Rueda Cardero, daughter‑in‑law of former President Raúl Castro.

Three of the designated entities belong to GAESA, which controls roughly 40 % of Cuba’s economy. GeoMinera operates a zinc mine in partnership with global trader Trafigura, signaling that foreign firms dealing with Cuba could face secondary sanctions. The measures were imposed just days after Havana announced sweeping economic reforms intended to attract foreign investment, liberalise farmland leases and allow private firms to import goods directly. By cutting off the primary banking channel and key logistical firms, the sanctions threaten to deter investors and deepen Cuba’s severe economic crisis.