An executive order, signed on Friday by US President Donald Trump, targets officials in the energy, defence, financial or security sectors of Cuba’s economy – as well as those he alleges to have committed “human rights abuses” or corruption.

It comes as protesters marking International Workers Day marched outside the US Embassy in Havana, denouncing a US blockade of oil to Cuba that has caused widespread blackouts and fuel shortages.

Trump continues to tighten US foreign policy towards the island nation and has indicated he wants to change its communist leadership.

Late on Friday, Trump told an audience in Florida that the US would be “taking over” the Caribbean island, which lies 145km (90 miles) from the US state of Florida, “almost immediately”.

“On the way back from Iran, we’ll have one of our huge – maybe the USS Abraham Lincoln aircraft carrier – the biggest in the planet, we’ll have that come in, stop about 100 yards offshore, and they’ll say, ‘Thank you very much. We give up’.”

Writing on X, Cuban Foreign Minister Bruno Rodriguez stated the “unilateral coercive measures” violated the United Nations Charter, adding they aimed to impose “collective punishment against the Cuban people”.

He shared videos from street demonstrations, describing them as “in defence of the Homeland” and added: “Our humans do not cower.”

Trump’s latest moves to build pressure on the country’s economy come despite Cuban President Miguel Díaz-Canel confirming in March that Cuba was negotiating with the US over relations between the two countries.

“The blockade and its reinforcement cause so much harm because of the intimidating and arrogant behaviour of the world’s greatest military power,” Díaz-Canel wrote on X following the announcement of the latest measures.

A US blockade on oil to Cuba has led to fuel shortages and widespread blackouts, impacting hospital wards, public transport and education.

Only one Russian oil tanker has reached the country since the blockade was imposed.

Trump has also threatened tariffs on goods imported into the US from any country that provides oil to the Caribbean nation.

The US and Cuba have had a strained relationship since the communist Fidel Castro overthrew a US-backed government in 1959. US economic and trade embargoes on Cuba have been in place since 1960. This also touches on aspects of diplomacy.

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