The head of the State Department, Marco Rubio, announced sanctions on several high-ranking Cuban officials accused of brutality against the Cuban population. It was revealed on the fourth anniversary of the violent suppression of significant anti-government protests. Rubio, the son of Cuban immigrants, said the State Department will impose visa restrictions on key members of the Cuban regime, including President Miguel Diaz-Canel, Defense Minister Alvaro Lopez Miera, Interior Minister Lazaro Alberto Alvarez Casas, and their associates, for their roles in the regime’s actions against its citizens.
Additionally, the State Department listed the Torre K hotel in Havana as a restricted entity to prevent US funds from supporting the Cuban regime’s oppression. Ten more properties associated with the regime were also added to the list of prohibited accommodations. The sanctions were announced in support of the Cuban people and political prisoners, in response to the government’s violent crackdown on the July 2021 protests. This resulted in one death and the injury of numerous protesters, with over 700 individuals, including those still in jail, subjected to torture or abuse.
Rubio accused the Cuban government of torturing pro-democracy activist Jose Daniel Ferrer, who was recently re-arrested, demanding immediate proof of life and the release of all political prisoners. Cuban Foreign Minister Bruno Rodriguez denounced these sanctions as part of the Trump administration’s vicious economic war against Cuba. Earlier in January, former US President Joe Biden had removed Cuba from the list of countries sponsoring terrorism, but Trump reinstated it as part of his aggressive policies towards the nation.
Source: https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2025/7/12/us-sanctions-cuban-president-regime-controlled-luxury-hotels?traffic_source=rss
