Cuban officials sanctioned by U.S. over crackdown on protests
Cuba’s defense minister and the communist nation’s special forces brigade were both slapped with U.S. sanctions for the “suppression of peaceful protests” that happened on July 11.
In a report by CNBC, the sanctions prohibits any transactions from entities in the United States to Cuban Defense Minister Alvaro Lopez Miera and the special forces, and vice versa.
CNBC further reported that the Treasury Department specifically sanctioned Lopez Miera for having “played an integral role in the repression of ongoing protests in Cuba.”
Last week, thousands of protesters who have gone tired of the Cuban government’s abuse marched the streets to vent out their frustrations over their ailing economy and food and medicine shortages.
“This is just the beginning – the United States will continue to sanction individuals responsible for oppression of the Cuban people,” U.S. President Joe Biden said in a statement Thursday. Earlier, Biden had said the U.S. stands “firmly with the people of Cuba as they assert their universal rights.”
Secretary of State Antony Blinken also wrote in a statement that “the actions of Cuban security forces and violent mobs mobilized by Cuban Communist Party First Secretary Miguel Diaz-Canel lay bare the regime’s fear of its own people and unwillingness to meet their basic needs and aspirations.”
The sanctions are the first steps of the Biden administration in pressuring the Cuban government to heed their people’s pleas, as the local cd international communities watch Washington next steps on how it will show greater support for the protesters.
Meanwhile, in Florida, in spite of a low turnout, a planned flotilla that was organized to show solidarity with the Cubans has sailed from Miami’s Bayside marina in downtown Miami.
Called the Freedom Flotilla, the movement was only supposed to leave the docks if they had 100 boats participating, according to CBS Miami. But only six boats participated in the flotilla.
Their destination is 15 nautical miles from Havana, but only as far as the international waters near Cuba.
“It is illegal for boaters to depart with the intent to travel to Cuba for any purpose without a permit,” Homeland Security was reported to say.