The U.S. Department of State has recently imposed visa restrictions on nine Cuban officials believed to be involved in silencing citizens through repressive and unmerited detentions on Nov. 15 following peaceful demonstrations in July.
The officials include high-ranking members of the Ministries of the Interior and the Revolutionary Armed Forces, a press release from the State Department said.
"These visa restrictions advance our goal of supporting the Cuban people and promoting accountability not only for regime leaders but also for officials who enable the regime’s assaults on democracy and human rights," the release said.
Among the purported transgressions are claims of bullying activists with government-sponsored mobs, confining journalists and opposition members to their homes, revoking journalists’ credentials to suppress freedom of the press, and arbitrarily detaining Cuban citizens who attempted to peacefully protest.
“The designated individuals today took action to deny Cubans their rights to free expression and peaceful assembly,” the release said. “The rights to freedom of expression and peaceful assembly are universal.”
The State Department hopes these restrictions will promote across-the-board accountability in the region.
“The United States continues to use all our diplomatic and economic tools to push for the release of political prisoners and to support the Cuban people’s call for greater freedoms and accountability,” government officials said in the release.
On July 11, the largest protest in decades against the Cuban government was held across the country, according to a report from Reuters. Protestors called for President Miguel Diaz-Canel to step down in response to a sharp economic downturn, a lack of basic goods and the handling of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Diaz-Canal said many of the protestors were manipulated by social media campaigns funded by the U.S. government, Reuters said. He warned that any further actions would not be allowed, and called on government supporters to confront any unrest.
“There is no denying the regime’s brutal crackdown in response to July 11, which were broadcast in real time for the world to see,” National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan said in a White House press release. “The Cuban regime should take this opportunity to listen to their people: to hear their frustrations and look for ways to work together to better serve the needs and ambitions of all Cubans.”
