US sanctions Cuban President Díaz-Canel and other officials for human rights violations

HAVANA AP The United States executive declared Friday it was sanctioning Cuban President Miguel D az-Canel and other top officers for human rights violations and restricting access to visas on the anniversary of the biggest protests on the island in current decades U S Secretary of State Marco Rubio declared on social media platform X that the State Department also would impose visa restrictions on Cuban judicial and prison agents responsible for or complicit in the unjust detention and torture of the July protesters The protests which were not led by an opposition group developed July and drawing attention to the depths of Cuba s economic problem The U S will continue to stand for the human rights and fundamental freedoms of the people of Cuba and make clear no illegitimate dictatorial regimes are welcome in our hemisphere Rubio mentioned in the comment The Trump administration has taken a harder line against Cuba s executive than the Biden administration In addition to D az-Canel the U S sanctioned Cuban Defense Minister lvaro L pez Miera and Interior Minister L zaro lvarez Casas Shortly after the announcement Johana Tablada deputy director of the U S department in the Cuban Foreign Ministry lashed out at Rubio calling him a defender of genocide prisons and mass deportations The rare protests in came about after repeated blackouts in Havana and other cities One man died and specific marches ended in vandalism Groups supporting the administration responded along with personnel to repress the protests Human rights groups estimated there were more than arrests but the executive gave no official figures At the time the Cuban authorities disclosed it was the conclusion of a U S media campaign and decades of U S sanctions In Cuban prosecutors announced a few people were investigated for acts related to the protests ranging from disorder to sabotage and vandalism The advocacy group J whose name alludes to the protests disclosed late last year there were people serving sentences related to the protests but various were given conditional release in January after an appeal from Pope Francis Source