A statement issued by the U.S. Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) said that Washington is imposing sanctions on the intelligence agency and nine Cubans, including the ministers of communications, energy and justice.
The sanctions also included a number of senior Communist Party officials, and at least three generals.
Increasing US pressure
Washington has intensified its pressure on Cuba since January, with US President Donald Trump hinting at the possibility of overthrowing the country's leadership, similar to what US forces did in Venezuela earlier this year.
The United States cut off Cuba's supply of Venezuelan oil, which had provided the island with about half of its fuel needs.
Since January, the US has imposed an oil embargo on Cuba, justifying it by claiming that the island, located only 150 kilometers off the coast of Florida, poses an extraordinary threat to US national security.
Washington is threatening to impose tariffs on any country that attempts to circumvent the sanctions to aid Havana.
The US oil embargo is exacerbating a humanitarian and energy crisis in Cuba, manifested in increasingly frequent power outages.
The government says it has exhausted its reserves of diesel and fuel oil needed to operate generators that supply a portion of the country's electricity production, in addition to its dilapidated power plants.
Defense against any American attack
On Monday, Cuban President Miguel Díaz-Canel said his country has the right to defend itself if attacked by the United States.
The Cuban government accuses Washington of seeking a pretext for military intervention after attempting to cripple the island's economy through the embargo.
Díaz-Canel said any US attack would lead to a bloodbath with countless consequences, reiterating that Cuba poses no threat to the United States or any other country.
