Toronto-based Sherritt is withdrawing from a mining partnership in Cuba amid the expansion of US sanctions
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The United States on Thursday imposed financial sanctions on a growing business community run by the Cuban military and a joint Cuban-Canadian mining venture, as the Trump administration ramps up pressure on the island’s communist leaders by targeting foreign investment sources.
After a military raid to capture the leader of Cuba’s long-time ally Venezuela in January, US President Donald Trump said “Cuba is next,” and blocked most of the country’s oil exports, worsening power outages on the island.
Trump last week signed an order to extend US sanctions against Cuba, a move that President Miguel Díaz-Canel described as “forced.”
Under that order, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said the Trump administration was targeting Grupo de Administracion Empresarial SA (GAESA), a military organization that US officials say controls at least 40 percent of Cuba’s economy, and its CEO Ania Guillermina Lastes Morera.
Actions are directed at Moa Nickel SA
The measures also target Moa Nickel SA, a joint venture between Toronto-based Sherritt International Corp and a Cuban state-owned company, which mines nickel and cobalt, Rubio said in a statement, accusing the Cuban government of providing a platform for espionage operations in countries opposed to the US.
Sherritt said in a statement on his website Thursday that he has suspended direct participation in joint operations in Cuba, “effective immediately.”
The company says it is taking steps to repatriate its expatriate workers to Cuba and has asked its partners to repatriate Canadian workers.
Sherritt noted there was no immediate impact on refining operations in Fort Saskatchewan, Alta., where it continues to produce finished nickel and cobalt. It says there is enough feed to last until mid-June.
US pressure on Cuba
The US has long demanded that Cuba open its private economy, pay reparations for properties seized by former leader Fidel Castro’s government and hold “free and fair” elections.
Cuba has said that its form of socialist government is non-negotiable. Senior Cuban officials accuse Washington of “hinting at military action” to “liberate” Cuba, and say decades of US sanctions against the island’s government are the main cause of its economic and social problems.
Rubio earlier this week held talks with military officials at the US Southern Command in Florida, which oversees US operations in the Caribbean region. He was photographed shaking hands with its commander, General Frank Donovan, standing in front of a map of Cuba.
“Today’s sanctions show that the Trump Administration will not stand by while the communist regime of Cuba threatens our national security from our territory,” Rubio said on X. “We will continue to take action until the state takes all the necessary political and economic reforms.”
Today’s sanctions show that the Trump Administration will not stand by while the communist regime of Cuba threatens our national security on our hemisphere. We will continue to take measures until the state takes all necessary political and economic reforms.
The sanctions came shortly after Rubio held talks at the Vatican with Pope Leo, who expressed concern over the escalation of tensions between the US and Cuba and called for dialogue.
