The United States has imposed visa restrictions on Cuban President Miguel Diaz-Canel and senior government officials, citing human rights violations linked to the 3 2021 anti-government protests. Secretary of State Marco Rubio linked the new sanctions to the Cuban regime’s brutal crackdown on demonstrators, accusing the government of corruption and demanding the release of political prisoners. Cuban officials argue that the US government incited the unrest to undermine the Cuban government, and have condemned the sanctions as an effort to destabilize the country.
The move follows previous US actions, including the 2025 release of activist Luis Robles after nearly five years in prison. The Cuban government has long maintained that the US is attempting an economic blockade that has been in place since the 1960s, and has refused to normalize relations despite repeated efforts. Russia and China have also condemned the sanctions, with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov calling for the lifting of the ‘illegal’ economic blockade in an op-ed published in Cuban state-run newspaper Granma.