By Yasin Gungor
ISTANBUL (AA) - US Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced Friday the reinstatement of the Cuba Restricted List, prohibiting transactions with companies linked to Cuban military and intelligence services.
The restrictions aim to "deny resources to the very branches of the Cuban regime that directly oppress and surveil the Cuban people," Rubio said in a statement.
The State Department added Orbit S.A., a remittance-processing company, to the list while restoring entities removed during the final week of the Biden administration.
Rubio urged Cuba to end its alleged support for terrorism and stop assisting "foreign murderers, bombmakers, and hijackers, while Cubans go hungry and lack access to basic medicine."
Cuban Foreign Minister Bruno Rodrigues said his US counterpart's allegations are "misleading" and called the move "provocative."
"Toughening criminal measures against the Cuban people will cause greater shortages, separation and increased emigration," he wrote on X.
The move follows President Donald Trump's decision to maintain Cuba's designation as a state sponsor of terrorism.