The United States announced on Tuesday sanctions against nine Cuban officials on whom it has imposed visa restrictions. Through your Twitter account, the Secretary of State, the Secretary of State, Antony Blinken, announced the measure and reiterated the support of his administration to the people of the Island “in their fight for fundamental freedoms.”
The sanctions seek to penalize “those who undermine the ability of the Cuban people to improve their political, economic and security conditions,” Blinken explained. However, the official did not offer details about who has been the target of these measures.
The State Department, in response to an email sent from the writing of 14ymedio it also declined to reveal the names of those sanctioned. “We are taking steps to suspend the entry into the United States of nine individuals, including high-ranking members of the Ministries of the Interior and the Armed Forces.”
“We are taking steps to suspend the entry into the United States of nine people, including high-ranking members of the Ministries of the Interior and the Armed Forces.”
“The visa registry applies confidentially to visa revocations and other actions under the authority used and, as such, the Department cannot publicly release the names of the nine officials,” the message states.
The decision was made in response to the repressive measures adopted by the regime against the protesters who wanted to mobilize on November 15. The protests called for that day were drowned out by the massive presence of police and State Security agents in the streets, arrests and threats.
“In the days leading up to November 15, the Cuban regime intimidated activists through parastatal groups, locked up journalists and opposition figures in their homes, revoked press credentials to limit freedom of expression, and arbitrarily detained citizens who pretended to demonstrate peacefully, “explains the statement from the State Department.
“The officials targeted today by the sanctions were responsible for those actions,” he stresses.
Blinken also warns that Washington will continue to use all its “diplomatic and economic tools to secure the release of political prisoners and to support the call of the Cuban people for greater freedoms.”
Washington will continue to use all its “diplomatic and economic tools to secure the release of political prisoners.”
On November 13, the United States government threatened the Cuban regime with applying new sanctions if it did not allow the demonstrations scheduled for two days later.
At that time, the Deputy Under Secretary of State for the Office of Western Hemisphere Affairs, Emily Mendrala, assured in a telephone press conference from Washington that the US Administration was “actively monitoring” the political situation in Cuba and ready to react.
“We are attentive and again ready to identify and promote the accountability of those who violate human rights if necessary,” Mendrala repeated literally up to three times, who recalled the US sanctions after the July 11 protests, the largest in several decades.
He stressed that the US Government urged the Island Executive to “allow the protests” called for this Monday, despite the fact that the Cuban authorities have prohibited them. “We urge you to allow the Cuban people to demonstrate peacefully and express their demands,” he added.
In addition, he urged the Cuban government “not to use violence” against those who participate in the various acts called to demand a change in the country, unlike what happened in the protests of the July 11.
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