US sanctions 2 more Cuban officials over crackdown on protests

By Andy Roesgen

CHICAGO, United States (AA) - The US on Friday announced sanctions for more top Cuban officials following Havana's crackdown on demonstrations this summer.

The Treasury Department announced sanctions on two members of the Cuban Interior Ministry and a military unit known as the Tropas de Prevencion (TDP) of the Cuban Ministry of Revolutionary Armed Forces.

The department accuses the TDP of violently cracking down on pro-democracy protests that started in July and wrongfully arresting peaceful protestors.

The two members of the Interior Ministry are also accused of deploying security forces which have essentially been doing the same things, according to the Treasury Department. The ministry has already been accused by the Biden administration of human rights abuses.

Last month, the US sanctioned the Cuban police force and its leaders for crackdowns on protests. It also sanctioned Cuba's defense minister and the nation's special forces brigade.

"Today's action shines a spotlight on additional perpetrators responsible for suppressing the Cuban people's calls for freedom and respect for human rights," Andrea Gacki, head of the department's Office of Foreign Assets Control, said in a statement.

Economic hardships have been driving protestors to the streets in Cuba, driven by the coronavirus pandemic, on top of food and power shortages.

Cuba's President Diaz-Canel Bermudez has blamed longstanding US trade sanctions on Cuba for the hardships.

But last month, US President Joe Biden warned that more sanctions were coming if attacks on protestors did not stop.