U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio [AP=Yonhap News File Photo]

On the 23rd (local time), the U.S. Trump administration added five organizations that have served as financial lifelines for the Cuban regime and one member of the Castro family, the core of Cuban power, to its sanctions list.

The State Department announced that it has designated three additional entities for sanctions, including two financial institutions and one logistics company linked to GAESA, a Cuban state-owned military-industrial conglomerate that was already under sanctions.

In addition, two organizations that have generated revenue for the Cuban regime by leveraging the country's mineral and metal reserves, including the state-owned enterprise GeoMinera, were also included in the sanctions.

Furthermore, the wife of Alejandro Castro Espín, who had been previously sanctioned, was also added to the list. Alejandro Castro Espín is the son of former Cuban President (former President of the Council of State) Raul Castro, a key power broker in Cuba.

In a statement regarding the entities and individuals sanctioned today, Secretary of State Marco Rubio said, "These actors fund, facilitate, or profit from the regime’s malign activities in Cuba and throughout our hemisphere."