Washington DC - President Donald Trump on Friday ordered new sanctions against Cuba, targeting a broad set of people in the communist-run country and threatening foreign banks that work with them.

The measures are the latest thrust of a Trump administration drive to put heavy pressure on Cuba, which is in the throes of a major economic crisis after the US cut off the flow of oil from Venezuela.

In an executive order, Trump said he would impose sanctions on people involved in sweeping sections of the Cuban economy, which is steered by the government.

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Trump will target people known to "operate in or have operated in the energy, defense and related materiel, metals and mining, financial services, or security sector of the Cuban economy, or any other sector of the Cuban economy," as determined by the US government, the order said.

It also said it would target Cuban officials judged to have engaged in "serious human rights abuses" or corruption.

The people listed will be unable to visit the US, it said.

The US will impose sanctions on any foreign financial institutions that deal with the people targeted in the new order, it said.

The sanctions come despite moves toward dialogue from the two countries, with senior US officials visiting the island for talks in April.

Secretary of State Marco Rubio, a Cuban-American and vociferous critic of Havana, has repeatedly called for major change in Cuba.

Trump has mused about taking over the island nation, which lies 90 miles from Florida and has been under a nearly continuous US trade embargo since Fidel Castro led a communist revolution in 1959.