After large, widespread public protests in Cuba over human rights, followed by harsh crackdowns by the regime, the Biden Administration is imposing sanctions on several Cuban officials directly responsible for the repression. The sanctions will target senior officials in the Interior Ministry and in the Cuban military using the Global Magnitsky Act as the vehicle. Biden is placing a high priority on the samctions, as the Washington Post article describes:
"Building an evidentiary package documenting abuse and corruption under the Global Magnitsky Act 'normally … takes weeks of work,' the senior official said, speaking on the condition of anonymity under terms set by the White House. Instead, Biden 'had State and Treasury drop everything they were doing and put something together in the space of a week.' The sanctions freeze any assets under U.S. jurisdiction and prohibit U.S. travel, although they are most effective as a form of public naming and shaming.
Biden has also ordered efforts to mobilize the international community to condemn the regime’s actions."
The Biden Administration is also cancelling its policies meant to improve relations with Cuba, after the former guy's restrictions on travel, trade and other areas.
Cuba has targeted artists, journalists and intellectuals in the crackdown, holding summary "trials" and jailing protesters without the benefit of legal representation. According to the Human Rights Watch article:
“'Singing a song that the government does not like, or reporting the news independently, is enough to get you detained in Cuba,' said José Miguel Vivanco, Americas director at Human Rights Watch. 'These abuses are not isolated incidents, but rather appear to be part of a plan to selectively silence critical voices.' [snip]
Most of the artists and journalists targeted belong to the 'San Isidro Movement,' a coalition of singers, painters and other artists, and '27N,' a group of artists and journalists who gathered after a landmark protest against censorship and repression in Havana on November 27, 2020." (our emphasis)
While many in the partisan right-wing Cuban-American exile community undoubtedly will criticize the Administration's moves as too little, it's the right thing to do as a caution to the Cuban regime to stop their human rights abuses. If further measures prove necessary, they're available and Cuba knows that.
(photo: Cuban military on streets of Havana. Yamil Lage / Getty)
