Cuba legalised private banks and dollar accounts on 18 June. Five days later the US Treasury sanctioned Banco Financiero Internacional, the state bank most of those dollars must clear through, while the Supreme Court opened US courts to lawsuits against Meliá and Iberostar. The grid lost 64% of the country to a single outage on 21 June, and Prisoners Defenders logged more than 175 new political prisoners in the first half of the year.
Cuba legalised private dollar banking; days later Washington sanctioned the clearing bank and court-opened its hotels to lawsuits.
OFAC designated Banco Financiero Internacional and four GAESA-linked firms on 23 June, five days after Cuba legalised private banks. The action strips the reform of the one state bank most private dollars would clear through.
On 23 June the US Treasury blacklisted Banco Financiero Internacional (BFI), Cuba's main foreign currency clearing bank. It also hit three firms tied to GAESA (Cuba's military conglomerate) and a relative of Alejandro Castro Espín.
Six days earlier Havana had legalised private banks and dollar accounts. That bank was the one route most new accounts would use, so the reform now has no dollar pipeline.
At peak on 21 June, 64% of Cuban territory lost power at once. UNE reported a 2,100 MW deficit and 106 generation centres idled by a seven-week fuel gap.
ColombiaCuba's state grid operator reported 64% of the country without power at once on 21 June, the worst multi-province outage since March. The shortfall reached 2,100 MW against 3,200 MW of demand.
The gap traces to a seven-week fuel drought. Over a hundred distributed generators sat idle for lack of diesel, on top of the imported oil the ageing thermal fleet needs.
The US Supreme Court ruled 6-3 on 23 June that Helms-Burton strips Cuban state entities of sovereign immunity, exposing Meliá and Iberostar to trafficking suits over property seized after 1959.
The US Supreme Court ruled 6-3 on 23 June that Cuba's state entities cannot claim sovereign immunity in US courts under the 1996 Helms-Burton Act.
That clears one more legal shield for lawsuits over property confiscated after 1959. Spanish hotel groups Meliá and Iberostar now face compensation claims they had not faced before.
Prisoners Defenders logged more than 175 new political prisoners in Cuba in the first half of 2026, 114 for protest and 9 of them minors, and projects its live list past 1,300.
Prisoners Defenders reported on 30 June that it logged more than 175 new political prisoners in Cuba during the first half of 2026. Nine of them were minors aged 15 to 17.
That keeps Cuba's registry on the same accelerating trend as May's record count of 1,281, even as the government denies holding any political prisoners at all.
Thirteen days after Cuba's National Assembly legalised private banks, no first licence had issued and Gaceta Oficial No. 54 carried no implementing rule. Díaz-Canel says the reform answers Cuba's needs, not Washington's pressure.
Cuba's parliament passed a 176-measure reform legalising private banks and dollar accounts on 18 June. By 1 July, two weeks on, no private bank or exchange house had been licensed.
Gaceta Oficial's 29 June issue carried no rule for approving a private bank. Until Banco Central de Cuba writes one, the reform's banking chapter stays on paper.
Three UNPACU women, held 18 months since a November 2024 blackout cacerolazo at Palmarito de Cauto, faced prosecution demands of 10, 8 and 5 years, with a verdict due on 1 July.
Three opposition activists faced a verdict on 1 July over a November 2024 pot-banging protest against blackouts in Palma Soriano. Prosecutors named them as Mileidis Maceo Quiñones, Edilkis León Giraudis and Oneida Quiñones.
Prosecutors sought 10, 8 and 5 years respectively, after all three spent 18 months in pre-trial detention. No verdict had been reported as of publication.
The European Parliament voted 283-199 for Magnitsky sanctions on Díaz-Canel, but the EU Council has opened no track and Spain's Albares hosted Cuba's deputy PM in Madrid.
ArgentinaThe European Parliament voted 283-199 on 18 June for Magnitsky-style sanctions on Miguel Díaz-Canel and to suspend the EU-Cuba cooperation agreement. The European Council, which alone can impose sanctions, took no matching action.
In June Spain's foreign minister José Manuel Albares hosted Cuba's deputy prime minister in Madrid instead. Cuba policy, for now, runs through bilateral ties as much as Brussels votes.
US pressure escalated across instruments in a single fortnight, from the Treasury designation of Cuba's clearing bank to a Supreme Court ruling that removed the immunity defence of its state entities. Cuban economic and humanitarian conditions worsened in step: no tanker in seven weeks, a prison count tracking past 1,300, and a reform stalled at the enabling stage point to further deterioration through July 2026 rather than relief.
AI-assisted, human-edited under the editorial responsibility of Bannermedia Ltd. Reviewed by Ed Woodcock on 1 July 2026. Editorial standards.
