US sanctions Cuban defense minister for cracking down on protests
The anti-government demonstrations in Havana, the capital of Cuba, on July 11, 2021. REUTERS - ALEXANDRE MENEGHINI
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3 min
The United States announced this Thursday, July 22 to have imposed a financial sanction against the Cuban Minister of Defense Alvaro Lopez Miera and a special unit of the Ministry of the Interior, responsible according to the American president for the "
repression
" recent “
peaceful protests and pro-democracy
” in Cuba.
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These new sanctions "
are just the beginning,
" warned Joe Biden. Adding: “
The United States will continue to sanction those responsible for the oppression against the Cuban people.
The US president has promised to continue pushing for the release of political prisoners. Measures described on Twitter as "
unfounded and discriminatory
" by Bruno Rodriguez, the Cuban Minister of Foreign Affairs.
The United States, he insisted, "
should apply to themselves the comprehensive Magnitsky law
[adopted under Obama, this law allows for the establishment of sanctions in the event of human rights violations, Editor's note]
for daily acts of repression and police violence which claimed
1,201 lives in 2020
”on their soil.
I refute the unfounded & slanderous US gov.
sanctions against Army Corp Gral Alvaro López Miera and the National Special Brigade.
It should rather apply unto itself the Magnitsky Global Act for systematic repression & police brutality that took the lives of 1021 persons in 2020.
- Bruno Rodríguez P (@BrunoRguezP) July 22, 2021
These measures taken by the Biden administration are the first reaction to calls for American elected officials and the Cuban community in the United States, for the American president to further support what appears to be the most important
protest movement of the regime
for several dozen. years. According to some observers, the speed with which they were taken testifies to the will of the American executive.
Demonstrations against the regime took place on July 11.
Thousands of Cubans then demonstrated against the economic and health situation on the island, some calling for an end to communism.
These demonstrations were severely repressed by Cuban security forces.
Over the next few days, hundreds of activist arrests took place.
► To read also: Cuba: after the demonstrations, the population rejects the violence
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