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News > Cuba

US Threatens Sanctions if Cuba Prosecutes 15N March Organizers

  • "Juan Gonzalez reiterates his ignorance on Cuba, its history & political culture. He had just a lucid moment when he said that the future of Cuba will not be determined from Washington. We already knew that." | Photo: Twitter/@IsmaraWalter

Published 22 October 2021
Opinion

The Havana's Prosecutor Office cited this week the organizers of the opposition march and reiterated that the march had not been authorized and was declared illegal. Authorities stated that if the march took place, promoters, and participants would be violating the Cuban Constitution and potentially facing criminal charges.

The United States issued a warning today to impose further sanctions on Cuba if the promoters of the opposition march called for November 15 in Cuba are prosecuted,  according to statements by Juan González, Biden's main advisor for Latin America, reported Spanish agency EFE.

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Biden's advisor was responding to whether Washington will sanction Cuban officials in the event that the organizers of the November march are prosecuted for carrying out the announced march despite the government's permit denial.

The Havana Prosecutor Office cited this week the organizers of the opposition march and reiterated that the march had not been authorized and declared illegal. Authorities stated that if the march took place, promoters, and participants would be violating the Cuban Constitution and potentially facing criminal charges. 

A recently created online platform named Archipielago, which promoted and organized the march, issued a statement after the government citation, insisting on their decision to march on November 15, despite the government's refusal to allow it. The purported aims of the protest are to demand respect for human rights and to release what they call "political" prisoners arrested previously in July.

The United States immediately criticized the Cuban government's decision to prevent the march from taking place, with Gonzalez alleging Friday that the island's leaders are “afraid to have a national conversation with the Cuban people.”

Gonzalez claimed that "the future of Cuba is not going to be determined from Washington...we are fully committed to supporting, backing and strengthening the voice of the Cuban people who want change." 

González also referred to the tougher line followed by Biden toward the island, which include new sanctions on high-ranking Cuban military and police officials for their purported role in arresting July protesters, in a clear departure from the path of de-escalation and normalization carried out former President Barack Obama (2009-2017). 

The Biden administration has also maintained in place over 240 additional measures adopted under the Trump period, which reinforced the 60-year-old blockade imposed and maintained by successive U.S. administrations on Cuba. The advisor declined to comment on Biden's position on the blockade, saying that this is “a matter for the U.S. Congress,” which has the power to lift it.

Responding immediately to the statement by the Biden administration's top official, the Cuban Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in his Twitter account: “A U.S. government high official, in an open interventionist move, once again makes the mistake of threatening Cuba. Besides being an act contrary to the UN Charter, history has shown that we Cubans do not feel threatened nor are we impressed by them.”

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