The US State Department has imposed sanctions on senior Cuban officials, including President Miguel Diaz-Canel, Defence Minister Alvaro Lopez Miera, and Interior Minister Lazaro Alberto Alvarez Casas. According to Secretary of State Marco Rubio, these officials are being targeted for their “role in the Cuban regime’s brutality toward the Cuban people”. The sanctions also restrict visas for Cuban regime figureheads and their “cronies”.
Rubio announced that the State Department has added the Torre K hotel to its restricted list of entities to “prevent US dollars from funding the Cuban regime’s repression”. The hotel is a luxury high-rise in central Havana, promoted by the Cuban government as a symbol of modernization. However, the government has faced criticism for investing in luxury hotels amid a severe economic crisis.
Cuban Foreign Minister Bruno Rodriguez slammed the latest measures as part of a “ruthless economic war” being waged by the Trump administration. He stated, “The USA is capable of imposing migratory sanctions against revolutionary leaders and maintaining a prolonged and ruthless economic war against Cuba, but it lacks the ability to break the will of these people or their leaders.”
The sanctions are part of the US government’s efforts to hold the Cuban regime accountable for its human rights record. Rubio emphasized that the US demands “immediate proof of life and the release of all political prisoners”. This move comes after the Cuban government was accused of torturing pro-democracy activist Jose Daniel Ferrer, whose bail was revoked in April.
The US-Cuba relations have been strained since the Cuban Revolution in the 1950s. In January, the Biden administration had removed Cuba from the blacklist of countries sponsoring terrorism. However, Trump returned the country to the blacklist immediately after taking office, resuming his “maximum pressure” campaign against Cuba.
The US State Department’s sanctions on Cuban officials and luxury hotels are seen as a significant escalation of tensions between the two countries. The move has sparked strong reactions from the Cuban government, which views the sanctions as an attempt to undermine its sovereignty.