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WASHINGTON — <\/span>The United States imposed sanctions Thursday on \u200bCuban President Miguel D\u00edaz-Canel, his wife and three other individuals, in the latest move by the Trump administration to pressure the island\u2019s leadership<\/a> that drew immediate condemnation from Havana.<\/p>\n Included in the sanctions are Alejandro Castro Esp\u00edn, the sole son of former Cuban President Ra\u00fal Castro<\/a> and Vilma Esp\u00edn. He served as an adviser to Cuba\u2019s Defense and National Security Commission and was present when Ra\u00fal Castro greeted then-U.S. President Barack Obama in Havana during a historic March 2016 meeting. Castro Esp\u00edn’s son, Ra\u00fal Alejandro Castro Calis, also was listed.<\/p>\n The new penalties come as U.S. President Donald Trump<\/a> has been threatening military action in Cuba since ousting Venezuelan leader Nicol\u00e1s Maduro in January and then ordering an energy blockade<\/a> that choked off fuel shipments to Cuba. That has led to severe blackouts<\/a>, food shortages and an economic collapse across the island. <\/p>\n The threats took on additional weight after the U.S. announced criminal charges against Ra\u00fal Castro<\/a> last month. Thursday’s penalties, which follow Trump signing an executive order expanding sanctions against the island, freeze individuals\u2019 property and bank accounts in the U.S. But it\u2019s unclear how intertwined their finances are with the U.S. financial system.<\/p>\n It\u2019s \u201cpretty unlikely\u201d Cuba\u2019s president and others have assets in the U.S., said Richard Feinberg, former U.S. national security adviser on Latin America and professor emeritus of international political economy at the University of California, San Diego.<\/p>\n He said the sanctions \u201ccould be seen as preliminary to an intervention or increasing pressure on the regime to cut a deal,\u201d adding that the rhetoric of Trump and U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio \u201ccould take you in either direction.\u201d<\/p>\n D\u00edaz-Canel accused Trump of making \u201cnew threatening statements against Cuba\u201d and said \u201cthese measures are aimed at reinforcing the blockade and escalating the conflict between Cuba and the United States.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cThis political blindness adds to the coercive measures applied in recent weeks against our country, designed to harm the Cuban people,\u201d he wrote on X. \u201cThe aggression and perversion of the U.S. government will clash with our resolve to confront the worst-case scenarios and resist the imperial onslaught.\u201d<\/p>\n Asked Thursday if his sanctions were meant to accelerate Cuba\u2019s collapse<\/a>, Trump said, \u201cWe just want them to be a nicely run country.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cThe country is starving and it\u2019s got no energy, it\u2019s got no oil, it\u2019s got no money, it\u2019s got nothing. It\u2019s got a beautiful piece of land. You could have beautiful resorts,\u201d Trump told reporters at an unrelated event in the Oval Office.<\/p>\n Asked whether Cuba is close to collapsing, he said, \u201cIt\u2019s sort of collapsed\u201d and added that \u201cwe\u2019re going to handle that as soon as we\u2019ve finished\u201d military operations in Iran<\/a>. <\/p>\n \u201cI like to do one thing at a time,\u201d Trump said.<\/p>\n Trump has ratcheted up talk of regime change in Cuba after pledging to conduct a \u201cfriendly takeover\u201d of the country if its leadership did not open its economy to American investment and kick out U.S. adversaries.<\/p>\n Rubio, the son of Cuban immigrants who has long taken a hardline against Cuba\u2019s socialist leadership, has said Trump\u2019s preference is to reach a deal but has said he is doubtful the U.S. can find a diplomatic resolution with the current government.<\/p>\n Those \u201cdesignated today direct or fund the regime and its efforts to mobilize its radical revolutionary movements in the United States and around the world,\u201d Rubio said in a statement.<\/p>\n Rubio has defended the Trump administration\u2019s decision to slap escalating sanctions on Havana, the largest of which is against Grupo de Administraci\u00f3n Empresarial S.A., a business conglomerate operated by the Cuban Revolutionary Armed Forces.<\/p>\n In addition to Diaz-Canel, Bruno Rodr\u00edguez, Cuba\u2019s minister of foreign affairs, said \u201cthe vile inclusion\u201d of D\u00edaz-Canel and others, including Cuban institutions and civil society organizations, \u201cis the latest example of the U.S. interventionist plan to portray Cuba as a threat to U.S. national security.”<\/p>\n \u201cEvery U.S. action aimed at creating a scenario of conflict between the two countries is destined to fail,\u201d he wrote on X. \u201cEvery threat against Cuba\u2019s independence and sovereignty will be met with even greater unity and determination from our people.\u201d<\/p>\n The new sanctions, which freeze any assets that those targeted may have in U.S. jurisdictions or any that come into U.S. jurisdictions, also apply to non-American entities that might do business with them.<\/p>\n In addition to the individuals, the sanctions also target Cuba’s defense ministry; its Institute for the Friendship with the Peoples, which promotes people-to-people talks; Amistur Cuba, an arm of the institute that oversees specialized tourism on the island; and the Committees for the Defense of the Revolution.<\/p>\n D\u00edaz-Canel was handpicked in 2018 to succeed Ra\u00fal Castro and was the first person in decades to lead Cuba without bearing the name Castro.<\/p>\n Under him, the island plunged into the worst economic and energy crisis in recent history, a situation worsened by heightened sanctions imposed by the Trump administration.<\/p>\n D\u00edaz-Canel’s wife, Lis Cuesta Peraza, also appeared on the sanctions list. She does not hold the title of first lady, a title abolished during the revolution, but in practice she acts as such, receiving other spouses such as Queen Letizia of Spain and accompanying her husband on official trips.<\/p>\n Her son Miguel Anido Cuesta, who is D\u00edaz-Canel’s stepson, also faces sanctions.<\/p>\n Lis Cuesta Peraza wrote on X late Thursday that \u201cit is almost an honor to be on this \u2018list.\u2019 They never tire of ridicule and political stupidity.\u201d<\/p>\n The new action boosts pressure on the Cuban government but is far from the first time the U.S. has imposed sanctions against heads of state or government and their relatives.<\/p>\n The U.S. hit former Sudanese President Omar Bashir and former Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe in the early 2000s and, more recently, targeted Maduro and his wife with sanctions.<\/p>\n ___<\/p>\n Coto reported from San Juan, Puerto Rico. AP writer Andrea Rodr\u00edguez in Havana contributed to this report. Follow AP\u2019s coverage of Latin America and the Caribbean at https:\/\/apnews.com\/hub\/latin-america<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n