US imposes sanctions on Cuban president in bid to pressure island’s leadership

The Trump administration on Thursday imposed sanctions on Cuban President Miguel Díaz-Canel, his wife and three other individuals in the latest move by Washington to pressure Havana’s leadership, Euronews writes.

According to a statement signed by the US Secretary of State, Marco Rubio, those “designated today (Thursday) direct or fund the regime and its efforts to mobilise its radical revolutionary movements in the United States and around the world.”

The move drew immediate condemnation from Havana, with President Miguel saying, “This political blindness adds to the coercive measures applied in recent weeks against our country, designed to harm the Cuban people.”

Tensions between Washington and Havana have escalated in recent months, after US forces overthrew Cuba’s ally, Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro, through a military operation, and then imposed an energy blockade on the island, which was already in a difficult economic situation. At the end of January this year, Trump signed an executive order imposing tariffs on any goods imported into the United States from countries that sell or supply oil to Cuba. Following the Venezuela operation, the US president stated that Venezuelan oil would no longer be sent to Cuba, adding that the collapse of the Cuban government was near.