On July 11, the U.S. State Department announced sanctions against Cuba/s President (Miguel Diaz-Canel) and members of the Revolutionary Armed Forces and Ministry of the Interior (Alvaro Lopez Miera and Lazaro Alberto Alvarez Casas and members of their families) for alleged participation in serious human rights violations associated with the popular demonstrations on July 11 and 12, 2021.[1]
A senior State Department official said, “The United States will never forget the tenacity of the Cuban people four years ago in demanding freedom and a future free from tyranny . The Trump Administration remains steadfast in its commitment to holding the Cuban regime accountable for its repressive actions and rampant acts of corruption.”
The U.S. also updated the list of sanctioned Cuban regime properties with which U.S. citizens and companies are prohibited from doing business, including 11 hotels (the Grand Aston La Habana; the Hotel Sevilla Affiliated by Melia; the Iberostar Selection La Habana; the INNSiDE Habana Catedral; the Varadero Sol Caribe and the Grand Aston Varadero Beach Resort, both in Cuba’s main beach resort; the Ocean Casa del Mar and the Roc Lagunas del Mar, both on Cayo Santa María; the Meliá Trinidad Península, on María Aguilar Beach in Santi Spíritus; and the Meliá Costa Rey, on Cayo Coco).
Secretary of State Marco Rubio marked this development with the following statement:
- “Four years ago, thousands of Cubans peacefully took to the streets to demand a future free from tyranny. The Cuban regime responded with violence and repression, unjustly detaining thousands, including over 700 who are still imprisoned and subjected to torture or abuse.”
- “Today, the Department of State is taking steps to implement President Trump’s strengthened Cuba policy outlined in National Security Presidential Memorandum
- From June 30, 2025. In solidarity with the Cuban people and the island’s political prisoners, the United States is designating key regime leaders under Section 7031(c) for their involvement in gross violations of human rights. We are also taking steps to impose visa restrictions on numerous Cuban judicial and prison officials responsible for, or complicit in, the unjust detention and torture of July 2021 protestors.”
- “In addition, the Department is updating the Cuba Restricted List and the Cuba Prohibited Accommodations List to include 11 regime-linked properties, including the new 42-story “Torre K” hotel, to prevent U.S. funds from reaching the island’s corrupt repressors.”
- “The U.S. will continue to stand for the human rights and fundamental freedoms of the people of Cuba, and make clear no illegitimate, dictatorial regimes are welcome in our hemisphere.”
Also on July 11, 2025, President Diaz-Canel from New York City responded with disdain and irony. “What bothers the US about Cuba is true independence, that transnational corporations don’t govern here, that we have free healthcare and education, that we don’t ask permission to condemn crimes like those committed by Israel and the US against the Palestinians.” His wife, Lis Cuesta, added similar words from Havana. [Lis Cuesta responds with disdain to US sanctions on Diaz-Canel’s “mango”: “They’re late.” Diario de Cuba (July 13, 2025).]
[1] The US sanctions Miguel Diaz-Canel, the ministers of the Armed Forces (FAR) and the Ministry of the Interior (MININT), and their families, Diario de Cuba (July 11, 2025) https://diariodecuba.com/cuba/1752270248_61968.html
Justice for the Cuban People on the Fourth Anniversary of the July 11 Protests, State Department (July 11, 2025) https://www.state.gov/releases/2025/07/justice-for-the-cuban-people-on-the-fourth-anniversary-of-the-july-11-protests/
