In a renewed show of pressure against the Cuban government, the United States has imposed visa restrictions on Cuban President Miguel Diaz-Canel, alongside Defense Minister Alvaro Lopez Miera and Interior Minister Lazaro Alberto Alvarez Casas. The sanctions, announced by US Secretary of State Marco Rubio via social media platform X on July 12, mark the latest move in Washington’s long-standing policy of confronting Cuba over alleged human rights abuses, with specific reference to the government’s response to mass protests in 2021.

Rubio, a vocal critic of the Cuban Communist Party, emphasized the connection between the sanctions and the Cuban government’s violent crackdown on demonstrators during the unprecedented unrest that swept across Havana and other parts of the island four years ago. “Four years since the Cuban regime’s brutal crackdown on protestors, the State Department is restricting visas for Cuban regime figureheads… and their cronies for their role in the Cuban regime’s brutality toward the Cuban people,” Rubio stated. He further demanded the release of all political prisoners and insisted on “immediate proof of life” for those reportedly detained under unclear circumstances.

The July 2021 protests were sparked by acute economic hardship, widespread power outages, and a collapsing healthcare system under the pressure of COVID-19. Thousands of Cubans took to the streets in what was described as the largest anti-government demonstration since........

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