Miguel Díaz-Canel Bermúdez, First Secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Cuba and President of the Republic, stated today that the new economic siege measures announced by the United States government aggravate the already difficult situation facing the country, yet strengthen the Cuban people's determination to defend the Homeland, the Revolution, and Socialism.

Through his official account on the social network X, the leader expressed: “Our people already know the cruelty behind the actions of the U.S. government and the malice with which it is capable of attacking them. They understand, as the rest of the world does, that this is a unilateral aggression against a nation and a population whose only ambition is to live in peace, masters of their own destiny, and without the pernicious interference of U.S. imperialism.”

“The additional economic siege measures announced today aggravate the already difficult situation our country faces, to the same extent that they strengthen our determination to defend the Homeland, the Revolution, and Socialism,” Díaz-Canel added in his message.

The Cuban President's statements follow the U.S. Department of the Treasury's inclusion of the Cuban entities Gaesa and MoaNickel S.A. on the Specially Designated Nationals List. This move serves as the first coercive measure stemming from the executive order signed by Donald Trump on May 1.

This provision significantly expands sanctions against Cuba, targeting any person or entity—foreign or American—operating in strategic sectors of the Cuban economy, including energy, defense, mining, and financial services. The sanctions also include extraterritorial measures that allow for the punishment of international banks facilitating transactions with sanctioned entities, threatening them with the closure of their Wall Street accounts or a prohibition on operating in U.S. dollars.

The Cuban Ministry of Foreign Affairs described these measures as a “ruthless act of economic aggression” constituting a collective punishment of a genocidal nature against the Cuban people.

Furthermore, Foreign Minister Bruno Rodríguez Parrilla—who on Tuesday described the statements of Secretary of State Marco Rubio as “cynical, hypocritical, and mendacious” for denying the existence of an oil blockade while promoting these sanctions—reiterated that these measures are international crimes that violate the Charter of the United Nations and International Law.

The head of Cuban diplomacy also warned that Washington might attempt to use a humanitarian crisis as a pretext for more dangerous actions, including military aggression.