Overview

• The State Department barred visas for President Miguel Díaz-Canel, Defense Minister Álvaro López Miera, Interior Minister Álvaro Álvarez Casas and other security and judicial officials under a 2025 budget provision targeting rights abusers.
• The US added Havana’s newly opened Torre K hotel to its restricted-sites list to curb dollar inflows that finance the Cuban government’s repression.
• Secretary of State Marco Rubio demanded immediate proof of life for dissident José Daniel Ferrer and urged the release of all political prisoners still held since the July 2021 protests.
• The sanctions follow President Trump’s June memorandum that revived a maximum-pressure strategy toward Cuba.
• Cuban Foreign Minister Bruno Rodríguez denounced the measures as a merciless economic war incapable of breaking the nation’s resolve.