By LCN Compliance Desk
The United States State Department on Wednesday, 17 September, designated eight Cuban state enterprises and three officers of the Revolutionary Armed Forces under Executive Order 14404, and the Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) added all eleven to its Specially Designated Nationals List the same day, according to the State Department fact sheet and OFAC's notice. Four of the companies work in Cuba's nickel industry. The other four are military research centres, and the three officers are their directors general.
The action follows OFAC's designation on 20 August of the nickel producer at Moa, Empresa de Níquel Comandante Ernesto Che Guevara, and on 3 September of CEXNI, the Moa-based company that supplies the nickel industry, and NICAROTEC, a mining services company at Mayarí, according to OFAC's notices of 20 August and 3 September. In four weeks, seven companies in the nickel districts of Moa and Nicaro have been listed.
Who did Washington sanction on 17 September?
| Designated | Role, according to the State Department | Basis under E.O. 14404 |
|---|---|---|
| CEPRONIQUEL, Moa | Engineering company that executes projects in the nickel industry and coordinates state mineral extraction | Sec. 2(a)(i)(A): metals and mining sector |
| CEDINIQ, Moa | State research centre for industrial research and development in the nickel sector | Sec. 2(a)(i)(A): metals and mining sector |
| SERCONI, Moa | State enterprise providing tools and services to the nickel industry | Sec. 2(a)(i)(A): metals and mining sector |
| PINARES S.A., Nicaro | State mining company conducting geological surveys of mineral deposits | Sec. 2(a)(i)(A): metals and mining sector |
| SIMPRO, Havana | Develops simulators and training for the Revolutionary Armed Forces | Sec. 2(a)(i)(A): defence and related materiel |
| CIDNAV, Havana | Research programmes for the Revolutionary Navy | Sec. 2(a)(i)(A): defence and related materiel |
| CIDAI, Camagüey | Research on developing and modernising infantry armaments | Sec. 2(a)(i)(A): defence and related materiel |
| Grito de Baire (GELCOM), Havana | Produces electronics and communications products | Sec. 2(a)(i)(A): defence and related materiel |
| Sr Col. Joaquín Francisco Cancio Monteagudo | Director General of SIMPRO | Sec. 2(a)(i)(E): senior official of a blocked entity |
| Capt. Dioglis Pedrera Argüello | Director General of CIDNAV | Sec. 2(a)(i)(E) |
| Sr Col. Julio Hurtado Betancourt | Director General of CIDAI | Sec. 2(a)(i)(E) |
Source: State Department fact sheet and OFAC notice, 17 September 2026. Nickel-sector companies are shaded.
"Cuba's nickel sector serves as a critical revenue stream for the Cuban government, generating hard currency from the exploitation of its natural resources, which sustains the regime rather than benefiting the Cuban people," the State Department said. All property of the designated persons in the United States or held by US persons is blocked, and so is any entity owned 50 per cent or more by one or more blocked persons.
How has the Cuba sanctions programme grown since May?
President Donald Trump signed Executive Order 14404 on 1 May 2026. It authorises sanctions on any foreign person found to operate in the energy, defence, metals and mining, financial services or security sectors of the Cuban economy, and on anyone who has provided "goods or services to or in support of" the Government of Cuba or a person blocked under the order. Designations under it have followed in rounds:
- 4 June: the Ministry of the Revolutionary Armed Forces (MINFAR), President Miguel Díaz-Canel and the mining company Minera La Victoria, with FAQ 1258 issued the same day (OFAC).
- 13 July: the foreign trade group GECOMEX, the maritime and port group GEMAR, fuel distributors and the Ministry of Tourism (OFAC), which La Caribeña News set beside two other OFAC actions in the region that summer.
- 23 July: the Mariel container terminal, fuel and medical-services companies, and CEIBA Investments Limited of Guernsey (OFAC).
- 20 August: the Moa nickel producer, the metals trader METALCUBA, the steel trader ACINOX Comercial and the Ministry of Construction (OFAC).
- 3 September: Banco Exterior de Cuba, the fuel wholesaler Comercial CUPET, CEXNI and NICAROTEC (OFAC).
- 17 September: the nickel engineering, research, services and survey companies and the four military research centres (OFAC).
The rounds have followed foreign investors out of the island. Spanish hotel group Meliá ended its operations in Cuba in July, citing US sanctions, and international visitors to Cuba between January and July 2026 numbered 37.2 per cent of the same period in 2025, on figures from Cuba's national statistics office.
Who buys Cuban nickel?
China was the largest buyer of Cuban nickel mattes and other intermediate nickel products in 2024, at US$53.1 million, followed by the Netherlands at US$35.4 million, according to data from the Observatory of Economic Complexity cited by 14ymedio and Diálogo. Output from the Che Guevara plant went mainly to China, while that of the Pedro Soto Alba plant, a joint venture with Canada's Sherritt International, went to Canada, 14ymedio reported. Sherritt reduced its activity at Moa in February 2026 because of fuel restrictions, the outlet reported.
What do the sanctions mean for businesses in Latin America and the Caribbean?
The order reaches companies outside the United States. Any foreign person found to have provided goods or services to a blocked person can itself be designated under Section 2(a)(i)(D) of Executive Order 14404, and the order does not set a minimum size for such a transaction. For a company in a Community of Latin American and Caribbean States (CELAC) country that sells equipment, fuel, freight, insurance or engineering services to Cuba's nickel industry, each of the seven listed nickel companies is now a blocked counterparty.
Ownership extends the reach. Entities owned 50 per cent or more by blocked persons are blocked even when they are not named, the State Department said, and OFAC has told non-US persons that they face sanctions risk in dealing with entities owned by the military conglomerate GAESA, the Ministry of the Interior or the Ministry of the Revolutionary Armed Forces, including subsidiaries named on the State Department's Cuba Restricted List, in FAQ 1258.
Banks carry a separate exposure. Section 4 of the order allows the Treasury to prohibit or restrict US correspondent accounts of a foreign financial institution that has conducted or facilitated a "significant" transaction for a blocked person, and Banco Exterior de Cuba has been blocked since 3 September, according to OFAC. Payments to or from the listed companies in US dollars pass through that correspondent system. La Caribeña News has reported on how a sanctions listing affects access to banking in the region.
OFAC's notice for 17 September lists no general licence permitting a wind-down of dealings with the newly designated companies. The one standing exception concerns food and medicine: OFAC has said it does not intend to target non-US persons under the order for supplying agricultural commodities, food, medicine and medical devices to Cuba, in FAQ 1264. Nickel, mining services and equipment fall outside it.
Of the persons designated under the order, one is a non-Cuban company: CEIBA Investments Limited of Guernsey, listed on 23 July, according to OFAC.
What else has La Caribeña News reported on OFAC sanctions?
La Caribeña News has reported on the US designation of Colombian President Gustavo Petro and what it did and did not stop, on the six companies licensed to work Venezuela's oil, none of them from the Americas south of the Rio Grande, and on how the approval route for a Venezuelan oil deal changed between 2024 and 2026.
What the title card shows
- 17 September 2026: eight entities and three individuals designated under E.O. 14404, four of the entities in the nickel sector. Sources: State Department, OFAC.
- Nickel-sector designations: Empresa de Níquel Comandante Ernesto Che Guevara (20 August); CEXNI and NICAROTEC (3 September); CEPRONIQUEL, CEDINIQ, SERCONI and PINARES (17 September), seven in total. Sources: OFAC notices of 20 August, 3 September and 17 September.
- Cuban nickel exports, 2024: China US$53.1 million, Netherlands US$35.4 million. Source: Observatory of Economic Complexity data via 14ymedio.
- Quotation: "Cuba's nickel sector serves as a critical revenue stream for the Cuban government", State Department, 17 September 2026. Source: State Department.
Frequently Asked Questions
Which Cuban nickel companies did the US sanction on 17 September 2026?
CEPRONIQUEL, CEDINIQ and SERCONI, all at Moa in Holguín, and PINARES S.A. at Nicaro, designated under the metals and mining sector criterion of Executive Order 14404, according to the State Department. The Moa nickel producer was designated on 20 August.
Who are the three Cuban officers sanctioned?
Senior Colonel Joaquín Francisco Cancio Monteagudo of SIMPRO, Captain Dioglis Pedrera Argüello of CIDNAV and Senior Colonel Julio Hurtado Betancourt of CIDAI, each the director general of a military research centre, according to the State Department.
Can companies outside the United States be sanctioned for dealing with these firms?
Yes. Executive Order 14404 allows the designation of any foreign person that provides goods or services to a blocked person, and allows restrictions on foreign banks that conduct significant transactions for one. OFAC has said it does not intend to target supplies of food and medicine.
Did OFAC allow time to wind down existing contracts?
OFAC's notice for 17 September lists no general licence for a wind-down of dealings with the newly designated Cuban companies, according to the notice.
Four weeks separate the designation of the Moa nickel producer from that of the companies that engineer, research, service and survey its deposits.
Disclosure: EICCIO Advisors, which shares ownership with this newspaper, advises businesses on sanctions compliance.