US imposes sanctions on Cuban President Miguel Díaz-Canel in latest move to pressure leadership

US imposes sanctions on Cuban President Miguel Díaz-Canel in latest move to pressure leadership | iNFOnews.ca
Cuba's President Miguel Diaz-Canel, second left, and Raul Castro's grandson Raul Guillermo Rodriguez Castro, center back, take part in a rally in support of former President Raul Castro in front of the U.S. Embassy in Havana, Cuba, Friday, May 22, 2026, after U.S. prosecutors filed an indictment accusing him of ordering the 1996 shootdown of civilian planes flown by Miami-based exiles. (AP Photo/Ramon Espinosa)

WASHINGTON (AP) — The United States has imposed sanctions on Cuba’s President Miguel Díaz-Canel, along with four other individuals, according to a filing Thursday on the U.S. Treasury Department website.

Included in the sanctions are Alejandro Castro Espín, the son of former President Raúl Castro.

The sanctions come after U.S. President Donald Trump signed an executive order expanding sanctions against the island.

The new sanctions boost pressure on the Cuban government but are far from the first time the U.S. has imposed sanctions against heads of state or government and their relatives.

The U.S. hit former Sudanese President Omar Bashir and former Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe in the early 2000s and more recently targeted former Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro and his wife with sanctions.

US imposes sanctions on Cuban President Miguel Díaz-Canel in latest move to pressure leadership | iNFOnews.ca
FILE – Raul Castro, right, watches the May Day parade accompanied by Cuba’s President Miguel Diaz-Canel, second left, and Castro’s grandson, Raul Guillermo Rodriguez Castro, center, at Revolution Square in Havana, May 1, 2025. (AP Photo/Ramon Espinosa, File)

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