Common Questions

What is Executive Order 14404?: EO 14404 is a US executive order signed by President Trump on 1 May 2026 imposing personal sanctions on Cuban officials responsible for repression and threats to US national security. It is separate from EO 14380, which governs Cuba fuel-sector pressure.Source: OFAC Recent Actions
Who is the first person sanctioned under EO 14404?: Ania Guillermina Lastres Morera, a Cuban official born 19 August 1962 in Marianao, Havana, was added to the SDN list on 7 May 2026 under the [Cuba-EO] tag.Source: OFAC Recent Actions
How does EO 14404 differ from EO 14380?: EO 14380 (29 January 2026) imposes secondary tariffs on third-country shippers of Cuban fuel. EO 14404 (1 May 2026) is a personal-sanctions instrument designating named Cuban officials and adult relatives.Source: Federal Register
What is Cuba General License 1?: Cuba GL 1, issued by OFAC on 7 May 2026, is a savings clause aligning EO 14404 with the existing Cuban Assets Control Regulations. It grants no new fuel-delivery authority.Source: OFAC Recent Actions

Background

Executive Order 14404, signed by President Trump on 1 May 2026 and formally numbered through Federal Register publication, creates a personal-sanctions architecture targeting named Cuban officials and their adult relatives under the title "Imposing Sanctions on Those Responsible for Repression in Cuba and for Threats to United States National Security and Foreign Policy". The first individual designation, Ania Guillermina Lastres Morera, was added to the SDN list on 7 May 2026 under the new [CUBA-EO] tag.

EO 14404 is a fresh instrument, not an amendment of Executive Order 14380 (29 January 2026), which governs the secondary-tariff fuel architecture pressuring third-country shippers. The two orders now operate in parallel: EO 14380 targets supply pressure, EO 14404 targets individuals. OFAC published Cuba General License 1 on 7 May as a savings clause aligning EO 14404 with the long-standing Cuban Assets Control Regulations.

Florida congressional Republicans publicly backed the order, with Carlos Giménez, Mario Díaz-Balart and María Elvira Salazar framing it as overdue accountability for the Cuban regime's security apparatus. Critics note the order's omission of any Cuba-specific tanker general licence under its authority, leaving Russian-origin fuel shipments to Cuba in legal limbo after GL 134B expired on 16 May. The personal-sanctions register's first occupant is a relatively obscure official rather than a household name, signalling OFAC is testing the architecture before expanding it.

How the World Sees Them

Cuba

Havana has not formally named EO 14404 in public statements. Díaz-Canel's 13 May Facebook post offered dialogue but ruled political prisoners out of negotiations.

Russia

Indirectly exposed: Sovcomflot tankers carrying Russian-origin diesel to Cuba face secondary-sanctions risk under the new architecture absent a Cuba-specific general licence.

United States

The Trump administration frames EO 14404 as targeting individual repressors, separating economic from personal accountability. Florida Republicans publicly endorse the architecture.

European Union

Cuban civil-society groups handed an Acuerdo de Liberación to EU Special Representative Kajsa Ollongren on 13 May, asking Brussels to mirror the personal-sanctions approach.