state-owned enterprises in the metals and mining sector. Rubio claimed these businesses help "sustain the regime's repressive apparatus through control of key economic sectors." The sanctions also targeted three top leaders of the Cuban Institute of Friendship with the Peoples (ICAP), an entity that "hosts international brigades at facilities across Cuba." Among those sanctioned is ICAP's president, Fernando Gonzalez Llort, who was convicted in the US as a Cuban spy and served 15 years in prison, but allegedly "continued his efforts to destabilize the United States" after returning to Cuba through his involvement with ICAP. Rubio said the designations make clear the Trump administration "will not tolerate the Cuban regime's efforts to fund its repression or continue its decades-long campaign of subversive anti-American activities." Cuban Foreign Minister Bruno Rodriguez responded on X, accusing Rubio of "punishing Cuban companies with the deliberate aim of harming our economy and preventing the government of Cuba from guaranteeing basic services to the population." The Trump administration launched its renewed pressure campaign against Cuba in January, following the toppling of Venezuela's Nicolas Maduro, a close Havana ally. An oil blockade has worsened the island's grim living conditions, while new sanctions—notably on the military-controlled conglomerate GAESA—have scared away foreign businesses and investment. The administration has accused Cuba of threatening US national security by aiding adversaries such as Russia, China and Iran, but has recently emphasized Havana's alleged ties to left-wing movements in the US. Rubio claimed Cuba "has long sponsored a vast subversive network in the United States aiming to identify, cultivate and radicalize subversives," largely under the pretext of educational or cultural exchange. He also alleged the regime used the 100th birthday of Fidel Castro to reinvigorate this network by ferrying international sympathizers to Havana—without identifying any of the alleged participants. (Bssnews)