🇺🇸 U.S. Bans Entry of Cuban President and Top Officials over Human Rights Abuses

 

U.S. Bans Entry of Cuban President and Top Officials over Human Rights Abuses

By Kanghyun Park | July 12, 2025

The Trump administration has officially barred Cuban President Miguel Díaz-Canel and several of his top officials from entering the United States, citing serious human rights violations related to the Cuban government’s crackdown on anti-government protests four years ago. The decision comes as part of a broader hardline policy toward Cuba, spearheaded by Secretary of State Marco Rubio, the first Latino and Cuban-American to head the U.S. State Department.

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🛑 Visa Bans under Section 7031(c)

In a press release on July 11, Secretary Rubio stated that the Department of State was designating key Cuban officials under Section 7031(c) of the U.S. Appropriations Act. This designation enables the U.S. to deny entry visas to foreign officials involved in significant corruption or gross violations of human rights, along with their immediate family members.

The officials named include:

• President Miguel Díaz-Canel

• Minister of Defense Álvaro López Miera

• Minister of the Interior Lázaro Alberto Álvarez Casas

Rubio emphasized that this move reflects President Trump’s enhanced Cuba policy and a renewed commitment to supporting democracy in the Western Hemisphere.

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🏨 Targeting Cuba’s Luxury Sector: Torre K and Beyond

The State Department also announced the addition of 11 properties to the "Restricted Accommodations List", prohibiting Americans from staying at locations believed to funnel U.S. dollars into the hands of what Rubio called "corrupt enforcers of oppression."

Among these is Hotel Torre K, a newly built 42-story luxury skyscraper in Havana — now Cuba’s tallest building.

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📣 Rubio: “Díaz-Canel Regime Crushed Peaceful Protest”

Rubio cited the July 11, 2021 protests, during which tens of thousands of Cuban citizens took to the streets to demand food, electricity, vaccines, and — above all — freedom. The protests were violently suppressed.

“Thousands of Cubans peacefully marched for a freer future,” Rubio stated.
“The regime responded with force, jailing over 700 individuals, many of whom remain imprisoned and subject to torture and abuse.”

He added,

“There is no place in our hemisphere for unlawful, authoritarian regimes.
The U.S. stands with the Cuban people and will continue to support their human rights and fundamental freedoms.”

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🕊️ Cuba’s Internet Blackout and the Aftermath

The 2021 protests, sparked by widespread shortages and blackouts, gained traction through Twitter and Instagram. For the first time in decades, Cuban authorities were unable to preemptively crush dissent, as citizen-organized demonstrations erupted across Havana and beyond.

In response, the Díaz-Canel government cut internet access nationwide.
Official reports claimed one protester died and dozens — including police officers — were injured.
However, independent human rights groups estimate at least five civilian deaths occurred during the crackdown.

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🧭 Rubio’s Strategic War on Authoritarianism

As a staunch anti-communist figure in U.S. politics, Marco Rubio is regarded as the architect of Trump’s Latin America doctrine. Known for his Cuban heritage — his father a bartender, his mother a hotel maid — Rubio has long viewed the Cuban regime as a “criminal dictatorship.”

Earlier this year, just two weeks after the Biden administration attempted to ease sanctions, the Trump administration reinstated full economic sanctions on Cuba (January 31).
On June 30, the administration further banned tourism to Cuba and introduced sweeping economic and travel restrictions.

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🏛️ A Symbol of the American Dream

Born in 1971, Marco Rubio is widely seen as a symbol of the American Dream.
He entered the U.S. Senate in 2010, built a career in foreign policy through the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, and was unanimously confirmed (99–0) as Secretary of State — a rare display of bipartisan support in modern Washington.