INTERNACIONAL
Trump expands Cuba sanctions beyond US companies in major crackdown on foreign enablers
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The Trump administration is rolling out what experts describe as the most significant expansion of U.S. sanctions on Cuba in decades.
The administration is attempting what supporters say is the first broad application of Cuba-related secondary sanctions against foreign firms, aiming not only at Havana itself but also at foreign companies and banks that continue doing business with the island’s military-linked economic empire.
The new framework, established under an executive order signed by President Donald Trump May 1, applies pressure beyond U.S. companies for the first time, threatening foreign firms with sanctions exposure if they continue operating in key sectors of the Cuban economy linked to Grupo de Administración Empresarial S.A., or GAESA.
TRUMP ADMINISTRATION PRESSED TO CLOSE CUBA EMBARGO LOOPHOLE AS OIL SET TO RUN OUT WITHIN DAYS
Supporters say the move closes a loophole that allowed foreign investors to sustain Cuba’s communist regime while the longstanding U.S. embargo largely restricted Americans.
Critics argue the measures risk worsening an already severe humanitarian crisis on the island without meaningfully weakening the government.
Demonstrators attemp to burn the Communist Party headquarters in Morón, Cuba, after authorities allegedly opened fire on protesters without prior warning. (Obtained by Fox News Digital)
«At the top of the month, what the Trump administration did was for the first time extend the application of U.S. sanctions from just prohibiting trade between U.S. firms and U.S. persons and the Cuban island to third-party countries and enablers,» Max Meizlish, a former Treasury Department official now serving as a research fellow at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, told Fox News Digital in an interview.
«For the first time ever in a truly unprecedented fashion, that’s the same logic that the administration is now applying to Cuba,» he said.
The sanctions focus heavily on GAESA, a sprawling military-linked conglomerate that analysts estimate controls between 40% and 70% of Cuba’s economy, including tourism, mining, retail, ports and financial services.
A recent Foundation for Defense of Democracies report authored by Meizlish and Connor Pfeiffer argued that foreign companies doing business in Cuba are effectively helping sustain the regime’s military and political leadership.
TRUMP DECLARES NATIONAL EMERGENCY OVER CUBA, THREATENS TARIFFS ON NATIONS THAT SUPPLY OIL TO COMMUNIST REGIME
Images of late Cuban President Fidel Castro, Cuba’s former President Raul Castro and Cuba’s President and First Secretary of the Communist Party Miguel Diaz-Canel are displayed in a billboard in Havana, Cuba, April 12, 2023. (Alexandre Meneghini/Reuters)
The State Department sanctioned GAESA and several affiliated entities in May under the new authorities, opening the door for potential penalties against foreign companies and financial institutions that continue dealings with them after a June 5 wind-down deadline.
Meizlish argued previous sanctions regimes failed because they isolated American companies while allowing foreign actors to continue financing the Cuban state.
«There’s a lot of Spanish firms, for instance, that have invested millions of dollars in luxury hotel properties, villa properties in Cuba that partner with GAESA, all funding this military enterprise at the expense of the Cuban people,» he said.
He also pointed to Canadian involvement in Cuba’s nickel and cobalt sectors, saying foreign investment has generated «huge amounts of money for the regime.»
«A lot of people think about the U.S. embargo over the years is actually being responsible for a lot of the problems on the Cuban island, but they don’t give consideration to the fact that GAESA, this newly sanctioned entity, has been sitting on an estimated $20 billion in assets and cash over the year while depriving the people of Cuba,» Meizlish told Fox News Digital.
But critics of the policy warn the economic fallout could land hardest on ordinary Cubans.
William LeoGrande, a longtime Cuba expert at American University, said the May 1 measures represent a major escalation because they specifically target foreign businesses rather than just Americans.
LeoGrande said the new sanctions represent a major escalation because they extend beyond Americans and aim to deter foreign companies from doing business with GAESA by threatening sanctions exposure.
LeoGrande acknowledged the measures could deprive the Cuban government of revenue but argued the broader population is likely to suffer most.
CUBA’S ENTIRE ELECTRICAL GRID COLLAPSES, LEAVING WHOLE ISLAND WITHOUT POWER
A woman with her son signals a car on a dark street during a blackout in Bauta municipality, Artemisa province, Cuba, on March 18, 2024. (YAMIL LAGE/AFP via Getty Images)
«This would potentially deprive the Cuban government of funds, but the impact will fall mainly on ordinary citizens because it means the government has fewer resources to import food, medicine and fuel,» he said.
The debate comes as Cuba faces its deepest economic and humanitarian crisis in years.
The World Food Programme says food insecurity is worsening amid fuel shortages, inflation and declining access to imported goods, while U.N. officials have warned that electricity shortages and blackouts are disrupting hospitals, vaccination programs and food distribution networks across the island.
LeoGrande also warned tougher sanctions could contribute to another migration crisis.
NICARAGUA BLOCKS PATHWAY USED BY CUBAN MIGRANTS TO REACH THE US
Protests take to the streets in Cuba over food, electricity shortages. (Reuters)
«Another unintended effect is that by making living conditions in Cuba even more desperate, tougher sanctions could trigger a mass migration like we saw in 1980 or 1994,» LeoGrande said.
On background, a U.S. official rejected arguments that American sanctions are responsible for Cuba’s humanitarian crisis.
«The suffering of the Cuban people is not caused by the U.S. embargo but by the Cuban dictatorship’s failed Communist policies and human rights violations,» the official told Fox News Digital. «The embargo does not prohibit Cuba’s access to world markets or trade with third countries.»
The official added that U.S. law explicitly permits exports of food, medicine and medical equipment to Cuba and accused the regime of hiding «billions in overseas bank accounts instead of investing in electricity, infrastructure and the daily needs of its people.»
The debate mirrors longstanding arguments surrounding U.S. sanctions on countries like Iran and Venezuela, where supporters view economic pressure as a tool to weaken authoritarian governments while critics argue regimes often survive and civilians absorb the economic damage.
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Meizlish argued sanctions should not be judged simply by whether they immediately topple governments.
«The problem isn’t that the embargo went too far,» he said. «It’s that it didn’t go far enough.»
Fox News Digital reached out to the Cuban Embassy in Washington for comment but did not receive a response by the time of publication.
cuba, administration, economy, sanctions, state department
New wave of Democrats emerges as far-left candidates surge in primaries
Former Libertarian presidential candidate Austin Petersen analyzes the growing influence of Democratic socialist candidates in New York primaries, actively supported by NYC Mayor Zohran Mamdani. Petersen argues that the Democratic establishment is «clearly running scared» from this movement, which he sees as a coordinated DSA slate.
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Mamdani-endorsed state assembly member Claire Valdez secured the Democratic nomination Tuesday after defeating a crowded field in the primary for New York’s 7th Congressional District.
The democratic socialist, who had been leading in the polls, defeated Brooklyn Borough President Antonio Reynoso, City Council Member Julie Won and civil rights attorney Vichal Kumar to fill the seat being vacated by Rep. Nydia Velázquez, D-N.Y.
Velázquez, the first Puerto Rican woman elected to Congress, announced she would not seek re-election in November after more than three decades in office.
In an endorsement posted on her campaign website, New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani praised Valdez for supporting him during his mayoral campaign and sharing his progressive vision.
HASAN PIKER CELEBRATES AMERICA BEING ‘CLOSER THAN EVER’ TO SOCIALISM AS HE BACKS NYC CANDIDATES
New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani endorsed state Assembly Member Claire Valdez in the Democratic primary for New York’s 7th Congressional District. (Michael M. Santiago/Getty Images ; Erik McGregor/LightRocket via Getty Images)
«Claire Valdez stood with me on day one because she understands how change is won — by building power, raising expectations and delivering for working people,» Mamdani said. «She comes from the labor movement and knows how to turn struggle into real gains on housing, health care and workers’ rights. That’s the kind of partner I need in Congress, and why I’m proud to endorse her.»
Velázquez, who also supported Mamdani’s mayoral campaign, publicly slammed the mayor in January after he endorsed Valdez over Reynoso.
«Honeymoons are short, and people need to pay attention to the work at hand,» she told The New York Times.
MAMDANI’S PRIMARY WIN EXPOSES DEMOCRAT DIVIDE AS TOP LEADERS WITHHOLD ENDORSEMENTS
NYPD officers arrest New York City Council member Tiffany Caban and New York Assembly member Claire Valdez (right) along with protesters after they refused to leave the lobby of Sen. Chuck Schumer’s office in Manhattan on Aug. 1, 2025. (Barry Williams/New York Daily News/Tribune News Service)
«Primaries sometimes can be a distraction from the work that you need to do,» Velázquez said, adding that the mayor’s involvement «opens up fights» with the people he governs.
Valdez, a vocal critic of Israel, has called to abolish U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), expand universal healthcare, raise taxes on the wealthy, boost affordable housing and strengthen unions.
«It’s a district that doesn’t just want strongly worded letters but a real economic vision to win the working class away from Trumpism,» according to her campaign website.
«That’s what Claire will deliver.»
SOCIALISTS CHEER ‘SHOCKWAVE’ PRIMARY NIGHT AS DSA-BACKED CANDIDATES WIN, ADVANCE ACROSS THE MAP
Rep. Nydia Velázquez holds a «Musk Steals» protest sign with fellow Democrats as President Donald Trump speaks during a joint session of Congress at the U.S. Capitol in Washington, D.C., on March 4, 2025. (Win McNamee/Pool/AFP)
Controversial Twitch streamer Hasan Piker and the Justice Democrats, the progressive group that helped launch Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez’s insurgent House campaign in 2018, have also thrown their support behind Valdez in the race to represent the district, which spans progressive strongholds across Brooklyn and Queens.
At a Brooklyn rally this month for candidates endorsed by the New York chapter of the Democratic Socialists of America, Piker called Valdez and activist Darializa Avila Chevalier, who is seeking to oust five-term incumbent Rep. Adriano Espaillat, D-N.Y., in New York’s 13th Congressional District, «giants» of the socialist movement.
«For the longest time, I thought we were so far away from socialism, and we might still be far away from socialism, but we do have an opportunity right here, right now, more than ever before,» Piker said at the rally.
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Piker added that this could be one of many victories for the socialist movement.
«By the end of these midterms, Zohran will seem unremarkable because, by then, we will have elected so many brilliant fighters into legislative offices throughout New York City and the state,» Piker said.
Fox News Digital’s Adam Pack contributed to this report.
democrats elections, alexandria ocasio cortez, congress, primary results, zohran mamdani, politics
INTERNACIONAL
Bolivia: el gobierno de Rodrigo Paz resistió la presión y anunció el fin de los cortes de rutas y el desabastecimiento
“El bloqueo ha sido derrotado”. El presidente Rodrigo Paz anunció este martes el fin de los cortes de rutas que desestabilizaron su gobierno y causaron un grave desabastecimiento de alimentos, medicinas y combustibles durante más de un mes y medio en La Paz y otras zonas de Bolivia.
Los nueve departamentos del país amanecieron este martes sin ningún punto de bloqueo por motivos sociales, anunció la Administradora Boliviana de Carreteras (ABC).
Pero el alerta se mantiene. El mandatario, que asumió hace siete meses después de 20 años de gobiernos del izquierdista Movimiento Al Socialismo (MAS), ratificó la vigencia del estado de excepción aprobado el sábado por el Congreso y que autoriza a su gobierno a sacar a los militares a la calle para reprimir cualquier protesta y piquete.
Las autoridades aseguraron que las carreteras quedaron completamente despejadas este martes, lo que augura el fin del desabastecimiento generalizado de productos de primera necesidad.
Los manifestantes, en su mayoría campesinos indígenas, trabajadores y mineros motorizados por la Central Obrera Boliviana (COB), exigían la renuncia del mandatario.
“Rodrigo Paz resistió la presión y la convulsión se desgastó al punto que el estado de excepción llevó a la disolución pacífica de los bloqueos sin que se produjera un solo disparo”, dijo a TN el analista Ricardo Calla, exministro de Asuntos Indígenas y Pueblos Originarios durante el primer gobierno de Evo Morales, uno de los promotores de las protestas.
El expresidente izquierdista anunció el lunes “un cuarto intermedio” en las protestas que sus seguidores mantuvieron en la zona del Trópico de Cochabamba, su bastión, tras 53 días de conflicto.
“Por ahora, un cuarto intermedio. No es rendirnos, pero la gran ventaja que tenemos las seis federaciones (organización sindical y agraria de productores de hoja de coca) es que nunca nos vendemos”, dijo Morales, citado por la agencia Fides.
La decisión de levantar los cortes, según advirtieron analistas, se sustentó en la presión ejercida por el gobierno después de declarar el estado de excepción que abrió las puertas a una intervención militar contra los manifestantes.
¿El fin del conflicto?
El presidente centroderechista está convencido de que la crisis fue superada.
“Nos vamos a organizar para construir, no para destruir, porque creo que el bloqueo ha sido derrotado, no puede retornar al país. Nosotros estamos como siempre con el diálogo como línea principal», dijo Paz citado por la prensa local.
Una vendedora coloca cajas de carne de pollo en La Paz, Bolivia, el martes 23 de junio de 2026. (Foto AP/Juan Karita)
El desbloqueo de las carreteras ocurrió en forma paulatina desde el sábado, en respuesta a la declaratoria del estado de excepción en el país. Pero a pesar de que las rutas están libres, el gobierno decidió mantener vigente la medida.
«Este estado de excepción continúa porque tenemos muchas cosas que ordenar. Bolivia se tiene que ordenar porque no se puede volver a repetir lo que ocurrió estos últimos 50 días. Y este estado de excepción es el instrumento legal que nos permite ordenar el país”, afirmó Paz.
Leé también: Violencia, déficit fiscal y crisis sanitaria: los desafíos que enfrentará el próximo presidente de Colombia
Para Calla, la oposición no alcanzó su objetivo de desestabilizar al presidente.
“Fue puesto bajo presión por los dirigentes de los bloqueos para dictar un estado de excepción que manchara de sangre su gobierno. Esos dirigentes pretendieron sacrificar a algunos de los pobladores movilizados para atizar la convulsión y manchar políticamente al gobierno”, dijo el analista.
La Central Obrera Boliviana (COB) finalmente pactó con el gobierno y abandonó las protestas. Evo Morales impulsaba el último reducto rebelde, que abandonó las rutas el lunes.
“Ahora Paz debe asumir la difícil tarea de que Bolivia supere su gravísima crisis económica, agravada por el bloqueo de 53 días. Será una ardua tarea. A cambio, los dirigentes de la convulsión fueron políticamente arrollados por el desenlace. El liderazgo local de Evo Morales en el Chapare ha de entrar en crisis. La era post Evo ya es un hecho consolidado ahora”, opinó Calla.
Pero la difícil situación social, agravada por el conflicto, sigue siendo un caldo de cultivo para nuevas protestas.
En su reducto del Chapare, el “evismo” advirtió que las protestas se retomarán cuando concluya el indefinido “cuarto intermedio” y denunció que el movimiento fracasó por la “traición” de la COB y del dirigente de la Federación de Campesinos de la Paz Tupac Katari, Vicente Salazar.
Bolivia, Rodrigo Paz, Evo Morales
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President Donald Trump scored a major legislative win after Congress cleared a sweeping housing bill aimed at expanding the nation’s supply of homes and lowering costs.
House lawmakers voted 358-32 in an overwhelmingly bipartisan vote Tuesday to approve the Senate-passed measure with opposition coming solely from Republicans. Every Democrat present voted for the package.
The 21st Century ROAD to Housing Act, one of the most significant housing bills approved by Congress in decades, largely incorporates Trump’s proposal to ban large institutional investors from purchasing single-family homes — a measure designed to help individual buyers compete with private equity firms.
It would also streamline federal environmental reviews for housing, loosen regulations around the construction of factory-built homes, and incentivize local governments to reform their zoning laws to allow for more homebuilding, among its more than 45 provisions.
US President Donald Trump speaks during an executive order signing in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, DC, US, on Monday, June 22, 2026. (Photographer: Bonnie Cash/UPI/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
ONE IN THREE ADULTS UNDER 35 LIVES WITH PARENTS AS HOUSING COSTS SOAR, DATA SHOWS
Other sections would allocate federal grants to municipalities with a track record of constructing new homes and create a pilot program to help communities redevelop vacant properties.
«The package focuses on a simple idea of building more homes, which means lower costs and more expanded opportunities for all Americans,» Rep. Mike Haridopolos, R-Fla., said Tuesday.
The president is expected to promptly sign the measure into law as soon as Wednesday.
Tuesday’s vote comes as home prices have surged in recent years, with the median nationwide price tag topping $400,000 and the median asking rent climbing above $1,760, representing an increase of 34.4% and 17.9%, respectively, since 2019, according to analysis from Realtor.com.
House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., brought the measure to the floor under a fast-track procedure known as suspension of the rules that required a two-thirds majority to secure passage.
In the end, more Democrats supported the legislation than Republicans.
Speaker of the House Mike Johnson, R-La., talks with reporters in the U.S. Capitol on June 10, 2026. (Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc. via Getty Images)
I TRIED FOR YEARS TO BUY A HOME. WALL STREET ALWAYS BEAT ME — TRUMP MADE THE RIGHT CALL
Some of the more than two dozen conservatives voted against the housing bill in protest of the SAVE America Act not being attached to the package. That legislation — mandating voter identification requirements, cracking down on mail-in voting and barring men from women’s sports, among other provisions — has failed to clear the Senate’s legislative filibuster and has not received a vote in the House.
«The Senate cannot keep obstructing President Trump’s agenda while ignoring election integrity,» Rep. Anna Paulina Luna, R-Fla., wrote on social media. «I call on my fellow colleagues to stand firm and honor their pledge.»
The group of conservatives has also advocated for the SAVE America Act to be paired with the reauthorization of a critical surveillance authority, known as Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, though that is unlikely to materialize amid intraparty disagreement.
Some Republicans also opposed the Trump-backed measure, citing the inclusion of provisions offered by progressive Democrats.
«The Housing bill is full of big government garbage & spending,» Rep. Chip Roy, R-Texas, wrote on social media.
The housing bill’s package comes after the House and Senate exhausted months ironing out disagreements about how to implement restrictions on private equity investors and a temporary ban on central bank digital currencies (CBDC) — an unrelated proposal sought by GOP privacy hawks.
Newly built homes line a residential development in a fast-grow ing Sun Belt market. (Smiley N. Pool/Houston Chronicle/Getty Images)
Both chambers ultimately agreed to a provision that would restrict large investors owning more than 350 single-family homes from purchasing additional ones, while creating exceptions for the construction of rental properties. However, investors that exceed the new threshold would not be required to sell existing holdings.
Critics have argued that large investors are not the source of supply constraints, with those firms owning less than 1% of the nation’s housing stock, according to Parcl Labs.
Their ownership of single-family rental properties is slightly higher, ranging from 1% to 3%, with the presence of large investors highly concentrated in certain rental markets, including Jacksonville, Fla., (22%) and Phoenix (13%), according to a March Government Accountability Office report.
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The housing bill’s passage comes as Republicans are facing electoral headwinds from voters who are souring on the current state of the economy and cost of living. But the soon-to-be law could give Republicans a concrete example taken to address housing affordability — a key issue for voters heading into November’s midterm elections.
Just 31% of voters approve of Trump’s handling of the economy, according to a Fox News poll released last week. That was a 2-point improvement after the measure hit an all-time low of 29% in May.
politics, mike johnson, congress, democrats, housing, republicans
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