The United States government recently announced that it is sanctioning Cuban President Miguel Díaz-Canel and several other top officials for human rights violations, and imposing visa restrictions in connection with the anniversary of the largest anti-government protests Cuba has seen in decades.
U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio stated on the social media platform X that the State Department will also apply visa restrictions to Cuban judicial and prison officials “responsible for, or complicit in, the unjust detention and torture of the July 2021 protesters.”
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The protests, which an opposition group did not lead, erupted on July 11 and 12, 2021, as widespread frustration mounted over Cuba’s worsening economic crisis. “The U.S. will continue to stand for the human rights and fundamental freedoms of the people of Cuba and make clear no illegitimate, dictatorial regimes are welcome in our hemisphere,” Rubio said.
In addition to President Díaz-Canel, the sanctions target Cuban Defense Minister Álvaro López Miera and Interior Minister Lázaro Álvarez Casas. The Trump administration has generally taken a harder stance toward Cuba’s government than the Biden administration, but this move signals continued bipartisan concern in Washington over Cuba’s human rights record.
Shortly after the announcement, Johana Tablada, deputy director of the U.S. division in the Cuban Foreign Ministry, sharply criticized Rubio, calling him a “defender of genocide, prisons and mass deportations.”
The 2021 protests were sparked by repeated power outages in Havana and other cities. While largely peaceful, some demonstrations ended in vandalism and confrontations. One person died during the unrest. Groups supporting the government responded alongside authorities to suppress the protests. Human rights organizations estimated that more than 1,000 people were arrested, although the Cuban government did not release official figures.
At the time, the Cuban government attributed the protests to a long-running U.S. media campaign and the broader impact of decades-long U.S. sanctions.
In 2022, Cuban prosecutors reported that about 790 individuals were investigated for protest-related offenses, including public disorder, sabotage, and vandalism. According to the advocacy group 11J—named after the date of the demonstrations—there were still 554 people serving sentences linked to the protests as of late last year. However, some were granted conditional release in January following an appeal from Pope Francis.
The sanctions add further strain to already tense U.S.-Cuba relations and come amid renewed international scrutiny of the Cuban government’s response to dissent and civil unrest.
