‘Legacy of isolation & defeat’: Cuba slams US over sanctions on Inside Minister for alleged ‘human rights abuse’

Washington has imposed a brand new spherical of sanctions on Cuba’s Inside Ministry, additionally blacklisting the company’s head over his alleged position in “human rights abuses” as Havana condemned the transfer as ”coercive” and “illegitimate.”

The US Treasury Division introduced the brand new penalties on Friday, claiming the ministry and its chief, Alvarez Casas, “have immediately or not directly” taken half in “human rights abuse,” pointing to alleged mistreatment of Cuban dissident Jose Daniel Ferrer.

“As [interior minister], Alvarez Casas can also be designated for being or having been a frontrunner or official of an entity… that has engaged in, or whose members have engaged in, critical human rights abuse,” Secretary of State Mike Pompeo stated in a separate assertion, including that Ferrer had reported “being crushed, abused, and held in isolation” whereas in custody in September 2019.

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Although Washington, conserving with its customary observe, cited no proof to assist its allegations, Cuba’s International Minister Bruno Rodriguez wasted little time earlier than blasting the sanctions as illegitimate.

“I denounce Trump’s [government’s] inclusion of Cuban people and entities in unilateral and illegitimate lists as a coercive measure towards our nation,” Rodriguez wrote on Twitter.

The willful dedication to single out Cuba comes from a regime that’s leaving a legacy of isolation and defeat in international coverage.

I denounce Trump's gov inclusion of Cuban people and entities in unilateral and illegitimate lists as a coercive measure towards our nation.

The willful dedication to single out Cuba comes from a regime that’s leaving a legacy of isolation and defeat in international coverage.

— Bruno Rodríguez P (@BrunoRguezP) January 15, 2021

The brand new penalties – which entail a ban on all US dealings with Casas and the Inside Ministry, in addition to a freeze on all their US-based property – come simply days after the Trump administration re-added Havana to its ‘state sponsors of terrorism’ blacklist. Washington accused the nation of harboring Colombian guerilla fighters who traveled to Cuba to participate in peace talks with Bogota, and of refusing to extradite them again house. Cuban officers additionally shredded that transfer as “fraudulent designation” by a “discredited, dishonest and morally bankrupt authorities.”

Trump has overseen a reversal of rapprochement efforts with Cuba pursued by his predecessor, Barack Obama, clamping down on journey restrictions, imposing a number of rounds of latest sanctions and tightening a decades-long commerce embargo partially lifted below the prior administration.

The sanctions on Cuba had been imposed amid a flurry of comparable actions throughout Trump’s waning days in workplace. Over the past week, the administration has introduced penalties towards six Hong Kong officers and two Iranian foundations, additionally threatening the identical for European companies engaged on Russia’s Nord Stream 2 pipeline venture. Twelve Iranian metals producers had been hit with sanctions earlier in January, whereas December noticed the US Commerce Division unveil a listing of 103 Russian and Chinese language entities – together with Moscow’s Protection Ministry – to be slapped with export bans.

With Trump slated to go away workplace in lower than every week, some observers have prompt the administration is aiming to tie Joe Biden’s palms when he takes over the presidency on January 20, doubtlessly making a diplomatic minefield for the brand new authorities to navigate because it stakes out its personal agenda.

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