🇨🇺 Trump signs executive order dramatically escalating "sanctions" on Cuba, targeting energy, finance, and security sectors President Trump signed an executive order Friday, marking one of the most sweeping expansions of US economic pressure on Cuba in decades, blocking the US assets of foreign individuals and entities operating in Cuba's energy, defense, financial services, metals, mining, and security sectors, as well as anyone acting on behalf of the Cuban government. The order also authorizes sanctions on foreign financial institutions that conduct significant transactions with designated Cuban entities, potentially cutting them off from US correspondent banking. This move could further isolate Cuba from the international financial system, limit foreign investment, and exacerbate the island's already severely restricted access to medicine, food imports, and basic goods. The order builds on Trump's January declaration of a national emergency over Cuba — the same legal basis used to justify the ongoing fuel blockade. Researchers at the Center for Economic and Policy Research found that US unilateral coercive measures had driven Cuba's infant mortality rate to its highest level in decades, rising 148% since 2018.