The United States has imposed sanctions on two Chinese companies, China National Electronic Import and Export Company (CEIEC) and Beijing H&C Technologies, over allegations that they supplied equipment and components to Cuba’s military. The US State Department announced the move on Thursday, stating that both firms worked with the Cuban arms procurement company Sociedad Mercantil Duna to provide military-related goods in 2026.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio stated that Cuba’s foreign backers provided military equipment that sustained its armed forces and enabled repression. Rubio further accused Havana of serving as a “staging ground for a global coalition of hostile anti-American actors to threaten, spy on, and plot against the United States and its interests”.
According to a fact sheet from the State Department, CEIEC—a subsidiary of state-owned China Electronics Corporation founded in 1980—contracted with Duna to export components for military equipment used by Cuba’s Ministry of Revolutionary Armed Forces. The department identified Beijing H&C Technologies as a subsidiary of CETC International, part of China Electronics Technology Group Corporation, which also worked with Duna to export military equipment to Cuba.
While the State Department noted that CEIEC works in defense and dual-use technology, and Beijing H&C sells electronic and security equipment like intrusion detectors, the government did not identify the specific equipment involved, the value of the transactions, or provide supporting documentation for the allegations.
The Chinese embassy in Washington did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The Treasury Department acted under a provision covering material support for the Cuban government, following a May executive order authorizing sanctions related to repression in Cuba and threats to US national security and foreign policy. These measures block the companies' property within US jurisdiction and generally prohibit US persons from dealing with them.
CEIEC had been under US sanctions since November 2020 regarding its support for the Venezuelan government’s restrictions on internet services and cyber operations. Beijing had previously opposed those sanctions, with then-foreign ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying calling them a pretext to suppress Venezuela and Chinese companies in December 2020.
In a parallel action, the Treasury Department expanded the sectors of Cuba’s economy that can be targeted by foreign businesses to include electronics, manufacturing, marine, and technology. This determination, effective Thursday, allows for further designations but does not sanction individual companies at this time.
The broader package also targeted an oil shipping network, Cuban state-owned electronics and technical services enterprises, and individuals linked to the military-controlled economy. The US identified five blocked vessels and designated Guillermo Faustino Rodriguez Lopez-Calleja, part of an offshore petroleum network, and Any Rodriguez Lastres, daughter of the president of the military’s business conglomerate GAESA.
Rubio accused Cuba’s ruling elite of hoarding energy, shipping, and technology resources for their own enrichment while ordinary Cubans face shortages and blackouts. The State Department noted that the US continues to authorize humanitarian trade, such as food and medicine.
Separately on Thursday, Cuban state security agents detained independent journalist Yoani Sanchez in Havana, according to her news outlet 14ymedio. Sanchez reportedly messaged colleagues saying, “The police kidnapped me” after leaving her home in the Nuevo Vedado neighbourhood. Her husband, Reinaldo Escobar, also announced her detention from Madrid.
Erika Guevara-Rosas of Amnesty International condemned the detention as “a new and alarming attempt” by President Miguel Diaz-Canel’s government to silence journalists. Cuban officials have denied holding political prisoners, with Diaz-Canel calling such allegations “a big lie” in an April interview with NBC’s Meet the Press.
