Top US diplomat in Havana promises more sanctions on Cuba
HAVANA - The U.S. has more sanctions in store for Cuba, the U.S. top diplomat in Havana said on Friday, just days after the U.S. punished several Cuban judicial officials for their roles in jailing political dissidents on the island nation.
Three Cuban judges and a prosecutor were forbidden from entering the United States on Wednesday, the latest sanctions from the Trump administration, which earlier declared a tough new policy on Cuba.
"The sanctions announced this Wednesday were just the beginning," U.S. Embassy chief of mission Mike Hammer told reporters at a press conference in Miami. "This administration is determined to sanction repressors. There will be consequences for their actions."
President Donald Trump has already doubled down on sanctions since taking office in January, returning longtime foe Cuba to a U.S. list of State Sponsors of Terrorism, tightening rules on remittances, and shutting off Biden-era migration programs.
The 61-year-old Hammer, a career U.S. diplomat who arrived in Cuba just six months ago, has kept a busy schedule, wandering the country widely as he talks with dissidents, small-business owners and Cubans of all walks of life.
In videos produced by the U.S. embassy and shared on social media, Hammer, who is fluent in Spanish, plays dominoes with a group of children in Camaguey, visits the tomb of Cuban hero Jose Marti in Santiago and speaks with family members of jailed dissidents in homes throughout Cuba.
His travels come as Cubans confront the worst economic downturn in decades, a growing crisis the Cuban government blames on the Cold War-era U.S. embargo, a web of restrictions that impede financial transactions, trade and tourism.
Hammer told reporters on Friday that those Cubans he had spoken with in his travels disagreed that the U.S. was to blame.
"The people recognize that those responsible are the Cuban regime, it has nothing to do with any policy of the United States."
Those assertions have infuriated the Cuban government, which accuses Hammer of seeking to stir up resentment in a bid to overthrow the island's communist leadership.
"Hammer's comments were not part of a neutral press conference, but rather a carefully orchestrated political operation...designed to position the Trump administration and (Secretary of State) Marco Rubio as though they were 'allies of the Cuban people,'" said Cuban diplomat Johana Tablada, who deals in U.S.-Cuba relations.
Even so, Cuba has not moved to block Hammer's travels, although it issued a recent warning in state-run media that its "patience has limits."
Hammer told reporters he would continue his work on the island.
"What are they scared of? I'm just a simple chief of mission talking with the people," he said. REUTERS
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