US sanctions Cuban president, ‘regime-controlled' luxury hotels
In a post on X, Rubio said the State Department would be 'restricting visas for Cuban regime figureheads', including President Diaz-Canel, Defence Minister Alvaro Lopez Miera, Interior Minister Lazaro Alberto Alvarez Casas, and their 'cronies' for their 'role in the Cuban regime's brutality toward the Cuban people'.
Rubio, the son of Cuban immigrants, also announced that the State Department has added the Torre K hotel to its restricted list of entities in order to 'prevent US dollars from funding the Cuban regime's repression'.
The Cuban government has promoted the luxury high-rise Torre K in central Havana as a symbol of modernisation. But the government has faced criticism for its large investment in luxury hotels amid a severe economic crisis in the nominally socialist one-party state.
'While the Cuban people suffer shortages of food, water, medicine, and electricity, the regime lavishes money on its insiders,' Rubio said.
Ten other 'regime-linked properties' were also added to the State Department's List of Prohibited Accommodations, it said in a statement.
The statement said the sanctions were being enacted in 'solidarity with the Cuban people and the island's political prisoners', citing the Cuban government's brutal crackdown on the July 2021 demonstrations – the largest since the Cuban revolution in the 1950s.
The police crackdown resulted in one death and dozens of wounded protesters.
'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,' the State Department said.
Rubio also accused Cuba of torturing pro-democracy activist Jose Daniel Ferrer, whose bail was revoked as he was taken into custody alongside fellow dissident Felix Navarro in April.
'The United States demands immediate proof of life and the release of all political prisoners,' Rubio said.
Cuban Foreign Minister Bruno Rodriguez slammed the latest measures as part of a 'ruthless economic war' being waged by the administration of US President Donald Trump.
'The USA is capable of imposing migratory sanctions against revolutionary leaders and maintaining a prolonged and ruthless economic war against Cuba, but it lacks the ability to break the will of these people or their leaders,' he said on X.
In January, then-US President Joe Biden had removed Cuba from the blacklist of countries sponsoring terrorism.
But Trump returned the country to the blacklist immediately after returning to the White House as he resumed his 'maximum pressure' campaign against Cuba that typified his foreign policy during his first term.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Al Jazeera
2 days ago
- Al Jazeera
Trump White House probes Harvard University's scholar exchange programme
The administration of United States President Donald Trump has launched a new investigation against Harvard University, this time targeted at an exchange programme that allows foreign scholars to visit the elite school. Secretary of State Marco Rubio issued a statement on Wednesday saying the probe was necessary to ensure US security — but the investigation is likely to be seen by critics as the latest attempt to bully the school into compliance with President Donald Trump's policies. 'The American people have the right to expect their universities to uphold national security, comply with the law, and provide safe environments for all students,' Rubio wrote in the statement. 'The investigation will ensure that State Department programs do not run contrary to our nation's interests.' At stake is Harvard's exchange visitor programme, which allows professors, students and researchers to come to the US on a temporary basis. Participating scholars receive a J-1 visa, which allows them to participate in cultural and academic exchange programmes on the basis that they are coming to the US not as immigrants but as visitors. But Harvard's ability to host such a programme is contingent on the State Department's approval. Rubio suggested that the school's 'continued eligibility as a sponsor' would hang in the balance of Wednesday's investigation. 'To maintain their privilege to sponsor exchange visitors, sponsors must comply with all regulations, including conducting their programs in a manner that does not undermine the foreign policy objectives or compromise the national security interests of the United States,' Rubio wrote. Questions of national security Under President Trump's second term, the US has repeatedly cited questions of national security and foreign policy in its attempts to expel foreign students, particularly those involved in pro-Palestinian and antiwar movements. Rubio himself has drawn on the Immigration and Nationality Act of 1952 — a relatively obscure Cold War-era law — in his efforts to deport student protest leaders like Mahmoud Khalil. The law allows the secretary of state to expel foreign nationals 'whose presence or activities' could pose 'potentially serious adverse foreign policy consequences for the United States'. The government's use of such laws, however, is currently being challenged in court. Critics argue they violate the constitutional right to free speech and protest. It was President Trump's opposition to the pro-Palestinian protests that led him to engage in a high-profile confrontation with Harvard, the country's oldest university and a member of the much-vaunted Ivy League. Schools like Harvard in Massachusetts and Columbia University in New York were considered the epicentre of the protest movement. At Columbia, for instance, students erected a tent encampment that inspired similar demonstrations across the world. The schools' crackdowns on those protests, however, were also emulated at other campuses. Columbia, for instance, called in police to clear pro-Palestinian demonstrators, and other schools took similar action, leading to more than 3,000 campus arrests across the country last year. Critics of the protests, including President Trump, have called the demonstrations anti-Semitic and warned they create an unsafe learning environment for Jewish students. Protest leaders, however, point out that most of the demonstrations were peaceful and have forcefully rejected anti-Jewish hate. Rather, they argue their protests are about shining a light on the abuses Israel has perpetrated in Gaza — and the crackdowns are aimed at stamping out views that run contrary to the US's close relationship with Israel. Pressure on schools Upon taking office in January, however, Trump pledged to take 'forceful and unprecedented steps' to root out alleged anti-Semitism on campus. In early March, he began his broadside on Ivy League campuses like Columbia and Harvard. He began by stripping Columbia of $400m in federal contracts and grants and then by requesting compliance with a list of demands, including disciplinary reform and external oversight for certain academic departments. By March 22, Columbia had agreed to make concessions. But Trump encountered greater resistance at Harvard University. On April 11, the Trump administration likewise issued a list of demands that would have required Harvard to commit to 'structural and personnel changes' to foster 'viewpoint diversity', eliminate its diversity programmes and agree to external audits. It refused. Instead, Harvard President Alan Garber said such requests would violate Harvard's rights as a private institution committed to academic freedom. Since then, the Trump administration has stripped Harvard of billions of dollars in federal contracts, research funding and grants. A federal court in Boston began hearing a legal challenge against that decision this week. A multipronged attack But the Trump administration has also explored other avenues to pressure Harvard into compliance. Trump has threatened to revoke Harvard's tax-exempt status — though critics warn it would be illegal to do so — and Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem blocked Harvard from accessing the Student and Exchange Visitor Programme (SEVP), a system that schools are required to use to enrol international students. Foreign students make up about a quarter of Harvard's student body. Losing access to the SEVP system effectively meant those students were no longer able to attend the school. Harvard challenged the Trump administration's ban on its foreign students in court and received a preliminary injunction that allows its international students to remain while the case plays out. But other hurdles have since emerged. Earlier this month, for instance, the Trump administration accused Harvard of civil rights violations and called for a review of its accreditation, the industry-wide quality standard that gives university diplomas their value. Meanwhile, news outlets have reported that officials from the Trump administration and Harvard continue to negotiate over whether a deal can be struck to defuse the ongoing tensions.
Al Jazeera
2 days ago
- Al Jazeera
EU steps up air defences for Ukraine and sanctions for Russia
Ukraine's European allies marshalled resources this week to provide the besieged country with air defences against drones and ballistic missiles. The European Union also announced an 18th round of sanctions designed to sever all remaining Russian energy imports, and proposed a fivefold increase in the common defence budget to boost EU defence research and procurement. European leaders convinced the United States to symbolically rejoin the 52-nation Ukraine Defence Contact Group coordinating defence donations, but not as a donor. It was the first such meeting attended by US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth since February, when he told EU members that pushing Russia out of Ukraine's internationally recognised territory was unrealistic. Operational developments As the ideological chasm between the EU and the US over Ukraine widened, Russia continued to pound Ukrainian defenders, making a few inroads. Russian forces seized Degtyarnoye in Ukraine's northern Kharkiv region, Popov Yar in its eastern Donetsk region, and Kamenskoye in the southern region of Zaporizhia on July 17. They captured Belaya Gora on Sunday and Novotoretskoye on Tuesday, both in Donetsk. While holding its front line, Ukraine has targeted Moscow with long-range weapons for the past two weeks. Russian air defences downed 13 drones approaching Moscow on Saturday, said its mayor, and Ukrainian drones disrupted traffic in Moscow's Sheremetyevo airport on Sunday, said Andriy Kovalenko, the head of Ukraine's Center for Countering Disinformation. Then, on Monday, Russia claimed to have shot down 74 Ukrainian drones, a third of them near Moscow. Others must have hit their targets, because a fire at Kamenolomny station in the Rostov region caused delays to train services in the Caucasus. Kovalenko also said that on June 11, Ukrainian drones attacked the Lukhovitsky Aviation Plant in the Moscow region, which produces MiG-29 and MiG-31 fighters. Ukraine's General Staff said drones also hit the Shipunov Design Bureau – a manufacturer of anti-aircraft missiles. The following day, Ukraine reportedly blew up a gas pipeline in Khanty-Mansiysk, about 3,000km (1,900 miles) from Moscow. The pipeline reportedly supplied military production facilities. Drone air defence At Monday's meeting of Ukraine's allies, known as the Ramstein format, after the German town where the meetings began, the United Kingdom and Germany pledged to jointly provide Ukraine with an unspecified number of missiles to defend its skies. 'Boris and I have agreed to jointly supply Ukraine with critically needed anti-aircraft missiles,' UK Defence Secretary John Healy said, referring to German Defence Minister Boris Pistorius. Ukraine uses the German-made IRIS-T and US-made NASAMS and SHORAD missile defence systems against drone attacks, which have intensified in recent weeks. From July 17 to 22, Ukraine shot down or electronically suppressed 833 of 968 unmanned aerial vehicles targeting its cities and critical infrastructure. The largest attack came on Monday, when Russia launched 426 drones overnight, along with five Kh-47 M2 Kinzhal ballistic missiles, four Kalibr cruise missiles, one Iskander-K cruise missile and 14 Kh-101 cruise missiles. The largest attack of the war on July 9 used 728 drones, and the head of the German Planning and Command Staff, Major-General Christian Freuding, said on Saturday that Russia plans to further increase its drone production capacity with the goal of launching 2,000 drones in one overnight strike package. Ukraine has used a variety of methods to down or disable drones, including man-portable air defence kits, heavy machineguns and electronic warfare. But its most successful methods so far have proven the German radar-assisted Gepard anti-air 35mm gun and its domestically-developed interceptor drones, said Ukrainian drone warfare expert Olena Kryzhanivska. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has made such domestically produced weapons a top priority. Inaugurating a new government headed by Yulia Svyrydenko on July 17, Zelenskyy said its top priority was to increase domestic arms production: 'Currently, about 40 percent of the weapons in the hands of our warriors are made in Ukraine. In six months, it should be no less than 50 percent,' he said. The goal was 'to push the war back onto Russia's territory – back to where the war was brought from. So that they feel what they've done', Zelenskyy said. Pistorius revealed details of a separate German collaboration with the US to provide Ukraine with Patriot air defence batteries. Ballistic air defence Ukraine has no domestic solution for countering Russia's deadliest long-range weapons, its ballistic missiles. The only effective defence it possesses is the US-made Patriot surface-to-air missile system. Pistorius revealed on Monday that 'during my trip to Washington last week, I agreed with Pete Hegseth that Germany would contribute to the rapid provision of five much-needed Patriot systems.' A complete Patriot system consists of a central radar and antenna array, and at least six launch vehicles carrying four interceptor missiles each. It appeared that Germany would pay for these systems. In return, the US would award it – and other countries donating their Patriots to Ukraine – priority placement in the production queue when buying replacement systems. Zelenskyy told Newsmax and the New York Post that he would separately buy Patriot systems and pay for them with Ukrainian-built drones. 'I told President Trump: 'The American people need this technology, and you should have it in your arsenal.' I believe this is a mega deal – a win-win for both sides. We're ready to share our experience with America and European partners,' Zelenskyy told Newsmax. Europe at the forefront of Ukraine aid While the US administration of Donald Trump remains willing to sell military kit to Ukraine after suspending donations, Europe remains ideologically committed to bankrolling Ukraine's defence and ending its own reliance on the US. Presenting the EU's next seven-year, 1,816-billion-euro ($2,130bn) budget on July 16, Ursula Von Der Leyen proposed a 131-billion-euro ($154bn) budget for defence and space, a fivefold increase on the 2021-27 budget. The money, which is in addition to that spent by EU national governments, would go towards buying European defence goods, investing in European defence industries, cybersecurity and dual-purpose critical infrastructure. Von Der Leyen proposed establishing a European Competitiveness Fund for defence research and innovation. She also proposed doubling the Ukraine Assistance Fund to 100 billion euros ($117bn). On July 18, the EU succeeded in agreeing on an 18th raft of sanctions against Russia. It bans the last remnants of Russian energy purchases from the EU, worth about 23 billion euros ($27bn), and lowers a price cap on oil carried to third parties on EU-insured tankers. The UK, where much of the world's tanker fleet is insured, has coordinated with the EU to follow the price cap of $47.60 per barrel, down from the price cap imposed in December 2022 of $60. 'The UK and EU are working in lockstep to combat those callously fuelling the fires of destruction in Ukraine,' said the UK Foreign Office. The new price cap will be dynamic, and is to be set 15 percent below market prices every six months. The EU forbade companies from transacting with the Russian-built Nordstream I and II pipelines, which were blown up in 2022, ensuring they would never be repaired or rescued from bankruptcy. The EU also banned any refined oil products from entering the EU, and added 105 vessels to the Russian shadow fleet banned from entering EU ports or receiving services, bringing the total to 444. The EU increased the number of Russian banks banned from transacting with its financial sector from 23 to 45, and sanctioned dozens of entities and companies believed to be helping Russia circumvent sanctions to its defence industry, 11 of them non-Russian. Diplomacy versus all-out war Amid this barrage of new measures from the EU and its slender mercantile collaboration with the US, diplomacy was not entirely given up. Ukraine proposed, and Russia accepted, a third round of direct talks in Istanbul on Thursday. Putin would attend China's 80th anniversary celebrations commemorating its defeat of Japan in World War II, the Kremlin said, and could meet with Trump if the latter accepted the invitation. Trump has spent most of his political career demonising China, however, and might resist casting it in the role of peace broker. US Air Force general Alexus Grynkewich told Bild last week that 'the EU and the US have only 18 months to prepare for a global military conflict with China and Russia. 'China and Russia are preparing for a simultaneous strike on Taiwan and Europe,' Grynkewich was quoted as saying. 'The conflict could start with a Chinese attack on Taiwan. Since Russia is currently a satellite of the PRC, Xi Jinping will undoubtedly coordinate actions with Putin. We will need every piece of equipment, all available machinery, and every munition we can get to be ready,' reported the commander-in-chief of NATO's European forces.
Al Jazeera
2 days ago
- Al Jazeera
UK sanctions 25 targets involved in alleged people smuggling
The United Kingdom has sanctioned 25 targets involved in alleged people smuggling, under a new financial sanctions regime targeting those facilitating the travel of refugees and migrants across the English Channel via small boats. The individuals and entities targeted on Wednesday include a small boat supplier in Asia and gang leaders based in the Balkans and North Africa. 'Middlemen' putting cash through the hawala money transfer system in the Middle East, which is used in payments linked to Channel crossings, are also targeted. It is unclear how effective the new sanctions regime will be, since British authorities can only freeze assets that are in the UK, and most of the smugglers are based elsewhere. Foreign Secretary David Lammy said on Wednesday that it was a 'landmark moment in the government's work to tackle organised immigration crime [and] reduce irregular migration to the UK'. 'From Europe to Asia, we are taking the fight to the people smugglers who enable irregular migration, targeting them wherever they are in the world and making them pay for their actions,' he added. The move follows legislation being introduced under the Border Security, Asylum and Immigration Bill to ramp up enforcement powers for police forces and partners to investigate and prosecute people smugglers. As part of the new sanctions regime, which was introduced two days ago, the government can now freeze assets, impose travel bans and block access to the country's financial system for individuals and entities involved in enabling irregular migration, without relying on criminal or counterterrorism laws. Albanian Bledar Lala, leader of the Belgian operations of an organised smuggling group, and a company in China that advertised small boats for people smuggling on an online marketplace are among those sanctioned. The number of refugees and migrants arriving on England's southern coast via small boats from northern France is a major political issue for Prime Minister Keir Starmer's Labour government, which has seen the far-right Reform UK party make significant political gains with a hardline anti-immigration platform. Starmer recently agreed to migration deals with France and Germany. Earlier this month, Starmer and French President Emmanuel Macron agreed to a 'one in, one out' deal in which refugees and migrants arriving by small boats would be returned to France in exchange for an equal number of migrants being able to come to the UK from France via a new legal route, which would be fully documented and subject to strict security checks. Last week, Germany and the UK signed a historic defence treaty, in which Berlin committed to making facilitating the smuggling of refugees and migrants to the UK a criminal offence. The law change, which is expected to be passed by the end of the year, will give German authorities more powers to investigate and take action against warehouses and storage facilities used by smugglers to conceal small boats for Channel crossings. Some 37,000 people crossed the English Channel in 2024, and more than 22,000 so far in 2025 – an increase of about 50 percent from the same period last year. Dozens of people have died attempting the journey.
