OFAC designates Cuban President Diaz-Canel, MINFAR, and additional Cuban individuals and entities
Sanctions-screening and payments-compliance teams subject to OFAC jurisdiction must block or reject transactions involving the newly designated Cuban individuals and entities, including President Diaz-Canel and the Ministry of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Cuba.
Change
On 5 June 2026, the U.S. Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control added multiple Cuban individuals and entities — including President Miguel Diaz-Canel Bermudez and the Ministry of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Cuba (MINFAR) — to the Specially Designated Nationals and Blocked Persons List under the CUBA-EO14404 authority, and issued a new Cuba-related FAQ (1258).
Why it matters
The SDN additions expand the set of names that trigger blocking and enhanced due diligence for US persons and others subject to OFAC jurisdiction. The designations target senior Cuban leadership (President Diaz-Canel and linked family members), the Cuban armed-forces ministry (MINFAR), and several state-linked organisations and a mining entity. OFAC's explicit 'Linked To' relationships in the listings, together with the 50 percent ownership rule, require screening configurations to capture related-party and ownership-based matches, increasing match-resolution and escalation workload for compliance teams handling any Cuba exposure.
Implications
- — Sanctions-screening and payments-compliance teams subject to OFAC jurisdiction must add the newly designated Cuban individuals and entities — including President Miguel Diaz-Canel Bermudez and the Ministry of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Cuba (MINFAR) — to sanctions filters and block or reject any transaction matching those entries.
- — Sanctions compliance teams must apply OFAC's 50 percent ownership rule and the listed 'Linked To' relationships as ownership and control match-resolution triggers, screening for entities owned or controlled by the designated parties and escalating related-party matches before permitting any transaction.
Who is affected
- — Sanctions-screening and payments-compliance teams at banks and financial institutions subject to OFAC jurisdiction
- — Trade-finance and correspondent-banking functions screening Cuba exposure
- — Non-US firms with US-nexus exposure managing secondary-sanctions risk