U.S. Treasury on Tuesday imposed sanctions on four entities, accusing them of transporting oil and petroleum products from Venezuela to Cuba.
The designated entities were either Panama-based or Cyprus-based, according to a statement provided by the Treasury.
The Treasury also claimed in the statement that Cubametales, the Cuban state-run oil import and export company, and other Cuba-based entities have "continued to circumvent sanctions by receiving oil shipments from Venezuela" after Washington blacklisted Venezuela's state-owned oil company Petroleos de Venezuela, S.A., or PDVSA, in January.
Four vessels belonging to the designated entities were also added to the Treasury's sanctions list.
As a result of Treasury's action, all property and interests in property of the punished entities subject to U.S. jurisdiction are blocked, and U.S. citizens are generally prohibited from engaging in transactions with them.
The United States has been pursuing a policy of economic sanctions and diplomatic isolation against the Venezuelan government in support of the opposition leader Juan Guaido.
The Trump administration has toughened its policy toward Cuba by cutting its diplomatic staff in Cuba and by activating the Title III of the Helms-Burton Act, which allows lawsuits to be filed in U.S. courts against companies operating on properties the Cuban government nationalized or expropriated after the 1959 Cuban Revolution.
Cuban President Miguel Diaz-Canel said earlier this month that Washington is lashing out at Cuba as it has failed in its pressure campaign against Venezuela.
