US continues to squeeze Cuban economy with new round of sanctions

Cuba announces new pro-market reforms amid threats of a military attack from US President Donald Trump’s administration.The United States has announced a new series of economic sanctions targeting Cuba, its latest step in a campaign to squeeze the island’s already fragile economy.The US State Department said on Thursday that it was sanctioning several Cuban companies and 31-year-old Fidel Ernesto Castro, grandson of 95-year-old former leader Raul Castro.Recommended Stories list of 3 itemslist 1 of 3‘To play God’: Cuba’s healthcare system collapses under US pressurelist 2 of 3Cuba’s power grid collapses again despite restoration effortslist 3 of 3US pummels Cuban economy with new sanctions on mining, constructionend of list“Cuba’s Communist regime elites preside over a failed state where ordinary Cubans go hungry,” US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said in a social media post on Thursday.Since January, President Donald Trump has undertaken a heightened campaign to weaken Cuba’s government, in an effort to spur regime change.Part of that campaign has been a series of escalating sanctions, as well as a de facto fuel blockade. Cuba had already been under a historic, decades-long US emb...