Biden administration imposes sanctions on Cuba for repression of demonstrators

The Biden administration announced that it is imposing sanctions against the Minister of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Cuba, Alvaro Lopez Miera, and local intelligence services in connection with the brutal repression of demonstrators. The US president said that this is "only the beginning" of retaliation.

"I unequivocally condemn the mass detentions and staged trials in Cuba, which will result in the imprisonment of those who dared to speak out in order to intimidate and silence the Cuban people," Biden wrote in a statement.

"This is just the beginning. The United States will continue to apply sanctions to those responsible for the repression of the Cuban people," the president said in a communique.

White House press secretary Jen Psaki said at a press briefing that retaliatory measures against the regime "are a priority for the administration and President Biden."

Shortly after, the administration also announced that it needed to ensure that Americans could work safely in Havana before increasing the embassy staff there.

The American authorities considered the behavior of the communist regime's services to be a violation of human rights. In Cuba, almost 200 people have been imprisoned after unprecedented public protests, and more than 180 people are missing. The United Nations has requested the data of people detained and "forcibly missing."

The speed with which the White House decided to impose sanctions indicates that President Biden will not weaken his course against the Cuban regime, despite the fact that he advocates easing some of the restrictions imposed by his predecessor Donald Trump during the election campaign, Reuters notes.

The agency, citing sources in the State Department, confirms that the events in Cuba have made the country a "top priority" for the Biden administration.

On Tuesday, the White House said it was also considering ways to allow ordinary Cubans to regain access to the Internet and social media, which the Havana government has partially blocked.

The Cuban regime accuses the US authorities of inspiring and financing "counter-revolutionaries" and of using the country's economic difficulties caused by US sanctions to incite Cubans.

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