US issues new Cuba sanctions

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 US 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.

"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.

In addition, Biden has been working on a plan to try to provide wireless communications to Cubans and augment US embassy staff in Cuba, a senior administration official said.

The protests erupted this month amid Cuba's worst economic crisis since the fall of its old Soviet Union ally and a record surge in coronavirus infections. Thousands took to the streets, angry over shortages of basic goods, curbs on civil liberties, and the authorities' handling of the pandemic.

Cuban President Miguel Diaz-Canel has blamed the unrest on the United States, which in recent years has tightened its decades-old trade embargo on the island. He has said many protesters were sincere but manipulated by US-orchestrated social media campaigns.

Last week, the US Treasury announced sanctions on Cuba's defense minister and an interior ministry special forces unit over allegations of human rights abuses in the crackdown that followed the protests, which saw hundreds of activists detained.

Florida's 1.5 million Cuban Americans voted heavily for Republican Donald Trump in the 2020 presidential election. Winning back their support is crucial for Biden's Democratic Party to clinch the swing state in the 2024 presidential election.