Cuba condemns new US sanctions as 'illegal' and 'abusive'

The new measures come on top of a US blockade of oil to Cuba that has caused widespread blackouts and fuel shortages.

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An executive order, signed on Friday by US President Donald Trump, targets officials in the energy, defence, financial or security sectors of Cuba's economy - as well as those he alleges to have committed "human rights abuses" or corruption.

It comes as protesters marking International Workers Day marched outside the US Embassy in Havana, denouncing a US blockade of oil to Cuba that has caused widespread blackouts and fuel shortages.

Trump continues to tighten US foreign policy towards the island nation and has indicated he wants to change its communist leadership.

Late on Friday, Trump told an audience in Florida that the US would be "taking over" the Caribbean island, which lies 145km (90 miles) from the US state of Florida, "almost immediately".