New sanctions on Cuba's leaders prompts strong reaction from Miguel Díaz-Canel

Added: 2026-05-25

[00:00:00]This afternoon, the president of Cuba is firing back, accusing the US of genocide after new sanctions are ordered against Cuban leaders.

[00:00:09]Good afternoon. I'm Nacha Sherman. The sanctions coming down on nearly a dozen Cuban officials. CBS News Miami's Maribel Rodriguez is your reporter outside Versailles in Little Havana with the latest and reaction.

[00:00:24]Just hours after the news broke, Cuban President Miguel Diaz-Canel lashing out to the US saying that no one in the Cuban government or military institutions own assets or property protected under US jurisdiction.

[00:00:36]If you see all these persons in the government, they have a family and most of the family are here in Miami or in Europe living with the with the money for the for the Cuban people. At Versailles restaurant in Little Havana, Cuban Americans are reacting after the Trump administration issued sanctions against 11 Cuban top officials. Among them are the president of the National Assembly, several people working for the armed forces, the deputy minister of defense, three generals, and the director of intelligence. For Ricardo the news of the sanctions is personal.

[00:01:10]All of my life, my grandfather, he was a mayor of a town and Fidel came and arrested him. My father had a prosperous business. He had to abandon it and come over here and and go into exile. So it's personal. Okay, so as long as there's a Castro there, the sanctions stay. The embargo stays. The sanctions are usually used against drug traffickers, terrorists, and human rights violators freezing any property and bank accounts they may have in the US. And I think the sanctions has been great and there should be more than the one they just did. I mean, I think that's this is the beginning of the end of the dictatorship. Many people we spoke with, including Ronald Delgado who came from Cuba 12 years ago, are hopeful Trump administration intensifying pressure against Cuba's government will work.

[00:01:55]This is the first time so in my life how see the the the nearest to the freedom is right now. And I say if nothing happened in these four years with Trump and Rubio in charge, forget Cuba.

[00:02:09]And Secretary of State Marco Rubio issuing a statement warning there could be more sanctions following in the next few days and weeks. In Little Havana, Maribel Rodriguez, CBS News, Miami.