U.S. sanctions Cuban officials amid rising tensions

May 19, 2026

Summary

U.S. sanctions hit 11 Cuban individuals as Washington cited security concerns and tensions rose Monday.

Why this matters

The sanctions affected senior Cuban officials and could further strain U.S.-Cuba relations. The developments also came alongside new reporting and public warnings tied to regional security concerns.

In a fact sheet released Monday, the State Department said it was “sanctioning 11 Cuban regime-aligned actors and three entities in furtherance of the Trump Administration’s comprehensive campaign to address the pressing national security threats posed by Cuba’s communist regime and hold accountable the regime and those who provide it material or financial support.”

The State Department said those sanctioned included Cuban Minister of Energy and Mines Vicente de la O Levy, Cuban Minister of Communications Mayra Arevich Marín, and National Assembly of People’s Power President Juan Esteban Lazo Hernández.

According to the State Department fact sheet, any property “and interests in property” of those sanctioned that are in the United States “are blocked and must be reported to the Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC).”

Also Monday, Cuban President Miguel Díaz-Canel warned of a “bloodbath” if the United States attacked Cuba. His comments followed an Axios report that, citing classified intelligence, said Cuba had more than 300 military drones and had discussed plans to use them to target the U.S. military base at Guantanamo Bay or Key West, Florida.

Axios reported that the intelligence indicated Cuba’s drone buildup could also threaten those sites and U.S. military vessels.

“The threats of military aggression against Cuba from the world’s greatest power are well-known,” Díaz-Canel wrote on X.

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The record for the most climbers to reach the summit from both sides was set the next day, May 23, 2019, when 354 climbers reached the peak, according to Guinness World Records.

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Blaine McGraw, 48, faces eight charges and 273 specifications, according to the Army’s Office of Special Trial Counsel.

The office said in April that McGraw, who is assigned to Carl R. Darnall Army Medical Center at Fort Hood, Texas, faced six charges and 146 specifications involving 73 victims from 2023 to 2025.

The preliminary hearing is scheduled for May 26.

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Seven alleged victims were patients at Tripler Army Medical Center in Honolulu, where McGraw was assigned during his medical residency, the office said. Those alleged offenses occurred during medical evaluations of female patients between June 2019 and July 2023.

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