Sat Jul 12 01:19:15 UTC 2025: **FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE**

**U.S. Sanctions Top Cuban Officials Over Human Rights Abuses**

**Washington D.C.** – The U.S. State Department has imposed sanctions on several high-ranking Cuban officials, including President Miguel Diaz-Canel, citing their role in the ongoing repression of the Cuban people. The announcement, made by Secretary of State Marco Rubio, coincides with the fourth anniversary of the July 2021 anti-government protests, which were met with a brutal crackdown by Cuban authorities.

Rubio, in a statement released on X, stated the State Department is “restricting visas for Cuban regime figureheads,” specifically naming President Diaz-Canel, Defense Minister Alvaro Lopez Miera, and Interior Minister Lazaro Alberto Alvarez Casas. These sanctions extend to their “cronies,” with Rubio accusing them of perpetuating “brutality toward the Cuban people.”

The State Department has also added the Torre K hotel in Havana, to its restricted list of entities. The luxury hotel, touted by the Cuban government as a symbol of modernization, is now off-limits to U.S. financial transactions. Rubio emphasized that this measure aims to “prevent US dollars from funding the Cuban regime’s repression,” particularly amidst the severe economic hardship faced by ordinary Cubans. Ten other “regime-linked properties” were also added to the State Department’s List of Prohibited Accommodations.

“While the Cuban people suffer shortages of food, water, medicine, and electricity, the regime lavishes money on its insiders,” Rubio stated.

The sanctions are a direct response to the violent suppression of the July 2021 demonstrations, the largest since the Cuban Revolution. The crackdown resulted in one death, numerous injuries, and the imprisonment of hundreds, with over 700 still detained, according to the State Department.

Rubio also voiced concern over the treatment of pro-democracy activist Jose Daniel Ferrer, whose bail was recently revoked, and demanded proof of life and the release of all political prisoners.

The Cuban government swiftly condemned the sanctions. Foreign Minister Bruno Rodriguez, in a response posted on X, denounced the measures as part of a “ruthless economic war” waged by the United States. He stated that while the U.S. may impose sanctions, it “lacks the ability to break the will of these people or their leaders.”

This move comes after the Trump administration returned Cuba to the blacklist of countries sponsoring terrorism.

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