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A man wearing pants patterned with the American flag walks down a street in Havana, Cuba, on May 18 (local time). / AFP·Yonhap News

The Donald Trump administration in the United States has intensified pressure on Havana by imposing fresh sanctions on senior Cuban officials and intelligence bodies.

The U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) designated nine individuals as sanctioned targets, including Minister of Justice Rosabel Gamón Verde, Minister of Energy and Mines Vicente de la O Levy, Minister of Communications Mayra Arevich Marín, and President of the National Assembly Esteban Lazo, Bloomberg News and other outlets reported on May 18 (local time).

The newly sanctioned list also includes the Cuban Intelligence Directorate (DI), its director, three top military generals, and a high-ranking official of the Central Committee of the Communist Party.

President Trump recently announced a sweeping sanctions program that allows the United States to track foreign citizens and companies doing business with sanctioned Cuban enterprises and officials.

Following the announcement, Sherritt International, a Canadian nickel mining company, began phasing down its joint venture operations with a Cuban state-owned enterprise.

The latest move is part of an ongoing policy pushed by President Trump and U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio to squeeze the Cuban economy.

In particular, blocking energy supply routes has crippled multiple industries. Cuba recently announced that it has run out of the fuel required to operate its aging power plants.

The United States and Cuba have been holding negotiations regarding these matters. U.S. Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) Director John Ratcliffe recently visited the Cuban capital of Havana, but neither side managed to achieve any significant breakthrough, and President Trump has raised the possibility of occupying Havana by force.