U.S. issues new Cuba sanctions, Biden promises more to come

WASHINGTON, July 30 (Reuters) – The United States on Friday sanctions the Cuban police and two of their leaders in response to the Havana government’s crackdown on protesters, and President Joe Biden promised further action to the Cuban-American leaders.

The Treasury Department said the sanctions, which appeared largely symbolic, were in response to “measures to suppress peaceful, pro-democratic protests in Cuba that began July 11”.

The target of the sanctions are two Cuban police leaders and the national police of the Cuban interior ministry, the ministry said.

“There will be more, unless there are drastic changes in Cuba that I don’t expect,” Biden said at a meeting with Cuban-American leaders in the White House.

His meeting came as the politically important community demanded more support for the protests in Cuba, the biggest anti-populist anti-government anti-government on the communist island in decades.

“The United States is taking concerted action to strengthen the cause of the Cuban people,” said Biden.

Biden said he asked the Treasury and State Department to report in a month on how to allow remittance payments from Americans to Cubans without any benefit to the Cuban government.

In addition, Biden has been working on a plan to try to bring wireless communications to the Cubans and reinforce the staff at the US embassy in Cuba, a senior administrative official said.

The protests erupted this month amid Cuba’s worst economic crisis since the fall of its old Soviet ally and a record spike in coronavirus infections. Thousands took to the streets angry about the shortage of basic goods, the restriction of civil rights and the authorities’ handling of the pandemic.

Cuban President Miguel Diaz-Canel has blamed the United States for the unrest that has tightened its decades-long trade embargo on the island in recent years. He said many protesters were righteous but manipulated through US-organized social media campaigns.

United States President Joe Biden will virtually meet with governors to discuss efforts to strengthen forest fire prevention, preparation and response in the South Court Auditorium in the White House in Washington, USA, on July 30, 2021. REUTERS / Evelyn Hockstein

Last week, the US Treasury Department announced sanctions against Cuba’s Defense Secretary and a special unit of the Home Office on allegations of human rights abuses in cracking down on protests in which hundreds of activists were arrested.

Republicans and Democrats on Capitol Hill are calling for further action.

Participants in Friday’s meeting included Yotuel Romero, a hip-hop musician and author of “Patria y Vida”, a song that has become the anthem of the demonstrators; Ana Sofia Pelaez, founder of the Miami Freedom Project; and former Miami Mayor Manny Diaz.

CUBAN AMERICANS LOOK FOR STRICTER POLICIES

The 1.5 million Cubans in Florida voted strongly for Republican Donald Trump in the 2020 presidential election. Winning back your support is essential for Biden’s Democratic Party to win Swing State in the 2024 presidential election.

“I think if Biden has a successful Cuban policy that is able to put the regime on the defensive and provide concrete support to the Cubans, it will benefit him with the Florida voters,” said John Suarez, Executive Director of the Center for a Free Cuba. “If the regime collapses under his supervision, it could be a game changer.”

Guennady Rodriguez, 40, who said he moved to Miami from Cuba in 2013, said he thought Biden was too slow to delve into Cuban politics in the months leading up to the protests. The Biden administration has thoroughly reviewed Cuban politics, which it inherited from the Donald Trump administration.

Rodriguez said it was unlikely that Biden would please the Cuban-American hardliners without conflicting with liberal voters.

“Biden has put himself in a lose-lose position. Now it’s getting harder for him to choose an engagement policy,” he said.

Alejandro Ortiz, 32, who also moved to Miami from Cuba, said he thought Biden’s response to the Cuban government after the protests was too slow.

“I see an attitude that is a little passive,” he said. “He had to be quicker and stricter with his measures.”

Reporting by Steve Holland; Additional coverage from Daphne Psaledakis in Washington and Saundra Amrhein in Miami; Editing by Heather Timmons, Cynthia Osterman and Rosalba O’Brien

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