The United States imposes new sanctions on Cuba to worsen its energy crisis

The United States government imposed new sanctions on Cuba on Thursday in a new attempt to strangle the island's economy and worsen its multiple crises. Among those sanctioned are Fidel Ernesto Castro, grandson of former President Raúl Castro, and the Cuban state company that imports supplies for the oil industry, known as Abapet.

This company is in charge of importing special equipment and spare parts necessary to maintain Cuba's deteriorating electrical network. The sanctions seek to knock out critical Cuban machinery and aggravate its energy crisis, said Brett Erickson, a sanctions expert and CEO of Obsidian Risk Advisors, a consulting firm. "The United States is really trying to tighten the screws as much as possible," he said.

"The Trump administration does not seem to have any serious intention of accepting changes in Cuba that do not imply the overthrow of the regime. Marco is not going to let that pass," he added, referring to US Secretary of State Marco Rubio. Erickson anticipated that the Cuban government will try to evade the sanctions "because they have no choice." "They will manage to try to get these maintenance parts," he said, warning that it would be a more expensive alternative, which in turn would increase inflation and further harm the Cuban economy.

Blackouts throughout the island have become increasingly frequent, and daily interruptions of electrical service now exceed 24 hours due to the failures of an obsolete network and dwindling fuel reserves, a situation aggravated since US President Donald Trump threatened in late January to impose tariffs on any country that sells or supplies oil to the island.

"The goal, in theory, is to create so much hardship and suffering among the civilian population that they have no choice but to essentially rebel and overthrow their government," Erickson explained. "It is an attempt to provoke a humanitarian crisis." Talks held at the beginning of the year between the United States and Cuba have been interrupted, while sanctions have intensified in recent months.

Erickson expects the United States to continue targeting smaller and smaller state-owned companies to try to push them into a "death spiral." The United States has previously sanctioned various entities, including the Cuban state oil and gas company. The US State Department made the announcement just hours after Cuban officials held a press conference to provide more details about the historic economic reforms approved in June.