HAVANA (AP) — America authorities introduced Friday it was sanctioning Cuban President Miguel Díaz-Canel and different prime officers for human rights violations and limiting entry to visas on the anniversary of the largest protests on the island in latest a long time.
U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio mentioned on social media platform X that the State Division additionally would impose visa restrictions on Cuban judicial and jail officers “chargeable for, or complicit in, the unjust detention and torture of the July 2021 protesters.”
The protests, which weren’t led by an opposition group, developed July 11 and 12, 2021, drawing consideration to the depths of Cuba’s financial disaster.
“The U.S. will proceed to face for the human rights and basic freedoms of the folks of Cuba, and clarify no illegitimate, dictatorial regimes are welcome in our hemisphere,” Rubio mentioned within the assertion.
The Trump administration has taken a more durable line towards Cuba’s authorities than the Biden administration.
Along with Díaz-Canel, the U.S. sanctioned Cuban Protection Minister Álvaro López Miera and Inside Minister Lázaro Álvarez Casas.
Shortly after the announcement, Johana Tablada, deputy director of the U.S. division within the Cuban Overseas Ministry, lashed out at Rubio, calling him a “defender of genocide, prisons and mass deportations.”
The uncommon protests in 2021 happened after repeated blackouts in Havana and different cities. One man died and a few marches led to vandalism.
Teams supporting the federal government responded together with authorities to repress the protests. Human rights teams estimated there have been greater than 1,000 arrests however the authorities gave no official figures.
On the time, the Cuban authorities mentioned it was the results of a U.S. media marketing campaign and a long time of U.S. sanctions.
In 2022, Cuban prosecutors mentioned some 790 folks had been investigated for acts associated to the protests starting from dysfunction to sabotage and vandalism.
The advocacy group 11J, whose identify alludes to the protests, mentioned late final 12 months there have been 554 folks serving sentences associated to the protests, however some got conditional launch in January after an enchantment from Pope Francis.
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