The Biden administration announced new sanctions Thursday against a Cuban official and a government entity for serious human rights abuse and corruption during peaceful, pro-democratic protests in Cuba that began earlier this month.
The U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) listed Alvaro Lopez Miera, a Cuban military and political leader, and the Brigada Especial Nacional del Ministerio del Interior, or Interior Ministry Special Brigade, as among those who will face the latest sanctions.
The Treasury Department said “ Cuba’s Ministry of the Revolutionary Armed Forces (MINFAR), which is led by, LOPEZ MIERA, has played an integral role in the repression of ongoing protests in Cuba, in which Cuban citizens are calling for an end to the 62-year old regime and deteriorating living conditions across the island, as well as demanding access to basic goods and services and medical attention.”
” MINFAR and the Cuban government’s security services have attacked protesters and arrested or disappeared over 100 protesters in an attempt to suppress these protests,” Treasury Department said.
During the July 2021 protests, the Cuban government deployed the SNB to suppress and attack protesters, Treasury Department said. The SNB, also known as the Boinas Negras or Black Berets, is a special forces unit under the Cuban Ministry of the Interior (MININT).
“The Cuban people are protesting for the fundamental and universal rights they deserve from their government,” Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said. “Treasury will continue to enforce its Cuba-related sanctions, including those imposed today, to support the people of Cuba in their quest for democracy and relief from the Cuban regime.”
President Joe Biden released a statement Thursday that said the Cuban people have the right to freedom of expression and peaceful assembly, just as Americans do.
“I unequivocally condemn the mass detentions and sham trials that are unjustly sentencing to prison those who dared to speak out in an effort to intimidate and threaten the Cuban people into silence,” President Joe Biden said in a statement. “The Cuban people have the same right to freedom of expression and peaceful assembly as all people.”
“The United States stands with the brave Cubans who have taken to the streets to oppose 62 years of repression under a communist regime,” Biden said.
Cuban Foreign Minister Bruno Rodriguez immediately took to Twitter to call the sanctions “baseless and slanderous” and suggested that Biden apply the sanctions on himself “for acts of everyday repression and police brutality” in the U.S.
A global media for the latest news, entertainment, music fashion, and more.
