US Blacklists Cuba's Tourism Ministry (MINTUR) in Sweeping New Sanctions

The US Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control added Cuba's Ministry of Tourism (MINTUR) to the Specially Designated Nationals list under Executive Order 14404 — the first time an entire Cuban government ministry has been blacklisted. The action, part of a package targeting 10 entities including energy firms Enetec and Coreydan, transport firm GEMAR, commerce group GECOMEX, and rapid-response/defense-committee enforcement organizations, freezes any US-linked assets and bars American persons from transacting with the island's second-largest hard-currency sector. The State Department called it part of "a comprehensive push to end the Cuban regime's malign activities." Rep. Carlos Giménez said the designations targeted "everyone who has participated in repressing the people in a 'rapid response brigade' or any militarized group." The announcement came as four Democratic representatives were visiting Havana to meet President Díaz-Canel and voice opposition to the pressure campaign.