[Epoch Times, July 23, 2021](Epoch Times reporter Lin Yan comprehensive report) The U.S. Treasury Department announced on Thursday (July 22) that it would impose sanctions on the Cuban Secretary of Defense and Ministry of the Interior under the Magnitsky Act. Under a special force.
The sanctioned officials and institutions have participated in suppressing the anti-government protests against the Cuban people in early July. According to a statement issued by the Ministry of Finance, the 78-year-old Cuban Revolutionary Armed Forces Minister Alvaro Lopez Miera (Alvaro Lopez Miera) and the Cuban Ministry of Interior Special Forces (Brigada Especial Nacional Del Ministerio Del Interior, SNB) Will be barred from entering the United States and freeze its assets in the United States.
The US action on Thursday marked the first concrete step taken by the Joe Biden administration to pressure the Cuban government. Members of Congress and the Cuban-American community called on the United States to give Cuban protesters greater support.
Biden said in a statement: “This is just the beginning. The United States will continue to sanction the individuals who oppress the Cuban people and who are responsible.”
Biden also said: “I unequivocally condemn large-scale detentions and trial-and-error trials. These unfair trials send those who dare to speak out into prison to intimidate and threaten the Cuban people to remain silent.”
White House spokesperson Jen Psaki told the media: “We made it clear last week that resolving this matter is the government’s priority.”
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken announced the sanctions against Cuba via Twitter on Thursday: “The United States will continue to promote accountability for the Cuban regime’s human rights violations in response to its violent suppression of peaceful protesters. The Cuban security forces and the head of the Cuban army imposed sanctions.”
The United States will continue to promote accountability for the Cuban regime’s human rights abuses. In response to the violent repression of peaceful protestors, we have imposed sanctions against Cuban security forces and the head of the Cuban military.
— Secretary Antony Blinken (@SecBlinken) July 22, 2021
On July 11, anti-government demonstrations took place in various parts of Cuba. People protested against the government’s ineffective prevention and control of the COVID-19 epidemic, power outages, and general shortages of basic supplies. Some demonstrators chanted the slogans of “Down with autocracy,” “We want freedom,” and “We no longer fear.”
This protest was the largest in Cuba in decades. The authorities severely suppressed it. The latest figures released by the Cuban exile human rights organization show that 450 people have been detained.
Local Internet services were temporarily interrupted, and communications on social media and SMS platforms were also restricted. These services returned to normal on the 16th.
The Cuban government warned citizens not to trust the news and pictures shared on social media, saying that they were manipulated by “counter-revolutionaries” funded by the United States.
The Cuban authorities confirmed on Tuesday (20th) that they have begun trial of detained protesters who are accused of inciting riots, engaging in sabotage, spreading the Chinese Communist Party virus (Wuhan virus, new crown virus) pandemic or attacking behavior-may be sentenced to up to 20 years in prison.
Javier Larrondo, a representative of the human rights organization Cuban Prisoners Defenders, said that the Cuban authorities may lock up the most influential opposition leaders, regardless of whether they participated in the protests.
He predicted that the Cuban authorities may imprison hundreds of political prisoners in just two weeks.
The exile group Cubalex has created an electronic form of Cuban detainees that is updated daily. More than 500 Cubans have been detained during or after the protests.
The group said that the actual number may be higher, and some families may fear retaliation after reporting the arrest of their loved ones, such as losing their job as a civil servant and dare not make it public.
According to Cubalex and Human Rights Watch, based on interviews with relatives of detainees, most of the detainees are held in solitary confinement, and the whereabouts of some are unknown.
Cubans have a Facebook group called “Disappeared #SOSCuba” (Disappeared #SOSCuba), which posts photos of missing persons or shares stories of detention. The group has more than 10,000 members.
Editor in charge: Li Yuan #
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