(Reuters) — The US State Department on Saturday announced visa restrictions on 28 Cuban officials it said were implicated in the crackdown on peaceful protests in Cuba nearly a year ago.
In a statement, the department announced that the restrictions would apply to high-ranking members of Cuba’s Communist Party and officials working in the country’s state media and communications sectors.
The State Department accused party officials of setting policies that subjected hundreds of people involved in the July 11, 2021, protests to violent and unjust arrests, sham trials, and prison sentences of decades.
The demonstrations were the largest anti-government protests seen in decades on the island, which is ruled by the Communist Party.
The Cuban government also used “Internet throttling” to prevent people in Cuba from communicating with each other and to block communications with the outside world, the department said.
“State media officials continue to engage in a campaign against jailed protesters on July 11, 2021, and their family members speaking publicly about the cases of their loved ones,” the State Department said.
Washington imposed the visa restrictions under a policy from the era of former President Ronald Reagan.
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