US Sanctions Cuba's State Oil Company CUPET

The US Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control added Unión Cuba-Petróleo (CUPET), Cuba's sole state oil and gas operator, to the Specially Designated Nationals list under Executive Order 14404, freezing US-linked assets and barring American persons from any dealings with the company. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said the designation targets "the entity responsible for controlling all oil production, refining, and distribution on the island," while President Díaz-Canel and members of his inner circle were sanctioned the same day. The move strikes at the operational core of Cuba's fuel system amid daily generation deficits already reaching thousands of megawatts.