Statement from Miami-Dade County Tax Collector Dariel Fernandez on New Sanctions Against Cuban Regime Elites

Today’s announcement by Secretary of State Marco Rubio imposing further sanctions on Cuban regime elites and government organizations is an important and necessary step to protect U.S. national security, stand with the Cuban people, and hold accountable the criminal communist dictatorship that has oppressed Cuba for more than six decades.

The Trump Administration’s action sends a clear message: those who participate in repression, prop up Cuba’s military-controlled economy, support the regime’s security apparatus, or help turn the island into a platform for foreign intelligence, military, and terror operations will face consequences.

For too long, the murderous communist socialist Cuban dictatorship and its enablers have used stolen resources, state-controlled companies, shadow networks, and foreign alliances to survive while the Cuban people live under fear, hunger, surveillance, and political persecution. The individuals and organizations sanctioned today are not harmless bureaucrats. They are part of the machinery that keeps the Cuban people oppressed and that threatens the national security interests of the United States.

Secretary Rubio is right to recognize that the Cuban regime is not only a human rights abuser. It is a direct threat to U.S. national security and foreign policy. The regime has aligned itself with America’s adversaries, allowed Cuba to be used for hostile intelligence and military activity, and continued to support the same repressive system that has destroyed families, futures, and freedom on the island.

South Florida understands this reality better than anyone. Our community is home to generations of Cuban exiles who lost everything because of this dictatorship. They warned the world about the true nature of the regime when too many chose to look away. Today’s sanctions prove that those warnings were not political rhetoric. They were the truth.

As Miami-Dade County Tax Collector, my office has a duty to ensure that businesses operating in our community follow the law and that entities tied to hostile regimes, sanctioned actors, or corrupt networks are not allowed to use local licenses, paperwork, or bureaucracy to hide their connections. We must remain vigilant at every level of government.

These sanctions are also a sign that the regime’s old methods are no longer working. The dictatorship is broke, isolated, exposed, and desperate. Its military elites have enriched themselves while ordinary Cubans suffer. Its foreign lifelines are being cut. Its corrupt networks are being identified. Its repression is being answered with accountability.

The Cuban people deserve freedom, democracy, and opportunity. They do not deserve a military dictatorship that steals their wealth, silences their voices, and sells out their country to foreign enemies of the United States.

I commend Secretary Rubio and the Trump Administration for taking decisive action against the Cuban regime and those who enable it. Additional sanctions in the days and weeks ahead should continue to target the individuals, entities, and networks that keep this murderous communist dictatorship alive.

When America stands against the Cuban regime, it stands with the Cuban people. And here in Miami-Dade, we will continue to do our part to defend freedom, protect our community, and expose those who aid and benefit from tyranny.

Dariel Fernandez

Tax Collector

Miami-Dade County