‘punishment’
Washington
The United States imposed sanctions on the Cuban police force and two of its leaders on Friday in response to the Havana government’s crackdown on protesters, and President Joe Biden promised Cuban-American leaders more actions were coming.
The U.S. Treasury Department said the sanctions, which appeared to be largely symbolic, were a reaction to “actions to suppress peaceful, pro-democratic protests in Cuba that began on July 11.”
Targets of the sanctions are two Cuban police force leaders, as well as the Cuban interior ministry’s national police force, the department said.
“There will be more, unless there’s some drastic change in Cuba, which I don’t anticipate,” Biden said during a meeting with Cuban-American leaders at the White House.
His meeting came as the politically important community calls for more support for protests in Cuba that represent the biggest populist outpouring against the government on the Communist-run island in decades.
“The United States is taking concerted action to bolster the cause of the Cuban people,” said Biden.
Biden said he had asked the Treasury and State departments to report back in a month on how to allow remittance payments from Americans to Cubans without the Cuban government profiting.
