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.
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."
Included in the sanctions are Alejandro Castro Espín, the sole son of former Cuban President Raúl Castro and Vilma Espín.
He served as an adviser to Cuba’s Defense and National Security Commission and was present when Raúl Castro greeted then-U.S. President Barack Obama in Havana during a historic March 2016 meeting. Castro Espín’s son, Raúl Alejandro Castro Calis, also was listed.
