The US mounted an escalating pressure campaign against Cuba in May 2026, combining economic sanctions and diplomatic pressure. On 1 May, the US imposed sanctions on Gaesa, the Cuban regime’s conglomerate that controls a large share of the island’s economy, the Wall Street Journal reported on 17 May 2026.
On 14 May, CIA Director John Ratcliffe visited Havana and put pressure on the Cuban regime officials to make fundamental changes, while implicitly referencing the possibility of military action, the Financial Times reported on 16 May 2026.
On 18 May, the US imposed additional sanctions on three Cuban government agencies — including the Ministry of Interior, the National Revolutionary Police, and the Directorate of Intelligence — and 11 senior officials including generals and Communist Party figures, while the US Department of Justice was concurrently reported to be preparing a criminal indictment of former Cuban president Raúl Castro, the New York Times reported on 18 May 2026.
Efforts Categories: US’s Political and Diplomatic Pressure on Cuba; US’s Economic Subversion against the regime in Cuba
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