Biden imposes sanctions on the Cuban defense minister and special forces for repressing protests

The Treasury Department announced on Thursday economic sanctions against the Minister of Defense and other officials of the Cuban regime, and against the special forces that have participated in the brutal repression of the historic protests last week on the island.

The Joe Biden government's decision, which also includes increasing internet access in Cuba and calling for more international pressure on the communist regime, was taken Wednesday night after a telephone conversation with Cuban-American Democratic activists in Miami.

["We want freedom": thousands of Cubans take to the streets to denounce shortages and repression]

What activists have liked the most is the proposal to expand the selective sanctions offered by the Magnitsky Law, approved by Congress in 2012 and which allows the Government to penalize foreign citizens suspected of having committed a serious violation against human rights or committed a crime of corruption.

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July 22, 202102: 01

"This is huge," said Sasha Tirador, a prominent Miami political activist who was informed of the plans on Wednesday night, according to the online daily Politico.

"No Administration has announced that it will hold each individual who violates human rights on the island of Cuba responsible," he said.

Shooter and others who participated in the call were discouraged when Biden did not propose an initial response plan for the demonstrations that on July 11, and for several days, took to the streets of the main cities of the country thousands of people. 

Conservatives, by contrast, have criticized Biden's response in recent days, including high-profile lawmakers and commentators. 

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They have also asked Biden to give the green light to a proposal to launch balloons high up to transport Internet access to the island, but the president and administration officials have been against the idea because they are not sure what. work. 

[A Cuban minister physically assaults protesters who asked for freedom of expression in Havana]

In Wednesday night's call, members of the government said they are working on an alternative way to provide Internet access, or what is called virtual private networks (VPNs), to allow Cubans in the The island communicate freely without being spied on by the regime.

The demonstrations come at a time when Cuba is facing the worst economic crisis since the fall of the Soviet Union (USSR), an increase in repression against political opponents and a collapse of the health system amid the most critical stage of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The day the first protests broke out, the ruler Miguel Díaz-Canel appeared on national television to call on the Army to confront the protesters: "The order to fight is given," he said.

In subsequent public interventions, he acknowledged that the country is going through a difficult period, although he attributed the problems to the embargo that the United States has maintained on the island since 1962.