Versión Español
Spanish – The United States announced on Thursday, 26th September, that Raul Castro and his sons would face economic sanctions owing to their collaboration with Nicolas Maduro’s regime in Venezuela.
Trump accused Maduro of having “sold the soul of his nation to a foreign dictatorship: Cuba. Now, the price it has to pay is to lose the backing of its financier.”
More than 20,000 Cuban soldiers serve to safeguard the socialist dictatorship in Venezuela. Trump had already ordered the cancellation of all flights and cruises to Cuba to leave the Castro family out of money to prevent them from funding their South American partner.
But now they’ve taken a more significant step. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo explained that Raul Castro and his immediate family are profiled for their serious human rights violations.
From now on, neither Raul nor his sons Alejandro, Deborah, Nilsa, and Mariela, deputy of the Cuban Parliament and leader of the pro-LGBT movement, can enter the United States.
He announced on social media that “the Cuban regime’s contempt for human rights and the use of violence to support the Maduro regime are responsible for the ongoing crises in Cuba and Venezuela.”
Today we designate Raul Castro and his immediate family for his involvement in gross violations of human rights. The Cuban regime's disregard for human rights and use of violence to prop up the former Maduro regime are responsible for the ongoing crises in #Cuba and #Venezuela.
— Secretary Pompeo (@SecPompeo) September 26, 2019
Hours before Pompeo’s announcement, Julio Borges, Venezuela’s Presidential Commissioner for Foreign Affairs, publicly notified that the sanctions on the Cuban dictatorship were listed as number one among the petitions of opposition members —who met with President Trump and regional leaders—.
Then he said that the results were not only positive but immediate.
Peticiones al presidente @realdonaldtrump y a los líderes latinoamericanos:
1. Sanciones contra Cuba
2. Presión sobre testaferros y familiares
3. Apoyo para el presidente @jguaido y la AN
4. Sumar a Europa a la agenda de presión para que adopte más sanciones contra la dictadura. pic.twitter.com/jH644rL6Tu— Julio Borges (@JulioBorges) September 26, 2019
The Castro dictatorship has pushed two million people out of its population of 12 million into exile. The braved sharks while crossing through the sea on rafts. Pompeo accused Raul Castro of being complicit in undermining democracy in Venezuela and causing the continent’s greatest humanitarian crisis, which forced 15% of the Venezuelan population to flee the country and left Venezuela with a food shortage and health crisis on a scale unprecedented in this region.
Raul’s role has been more than being the successor to his brother Fidel Castro. Both fought in the insurgencies that resulted in the coup d’etat on 1st January 1959. Thus, like his brother, Raul went from being a guerilla to a member of the military. He now serves as the first secretary of the Cuban Armed Forces. Therefore, Pompeo asserted that Raul Castro is responsible for Cuba’s actions to sustain the Maduro regime in Venezuela through violence, intimidation, and repression.
Cubans in exile celebrate the sanctions
The Cuban Justice Commission, an organization of Cubans in exile and international professionals dedicated to bringing the crimes against humanity of the communist dictatorship to justice, congratulated the U.S. government on its decision to act against Raul Castro, Cuba’s dictator, and his family for their crimes.
Besides its full support for the measures, the Cuban Justice Commission offered to provide to the U.S. all documentation at its disposal to contribute to the probes regarding crimes against humanity committed by this family and its accomplices in the Castro dictatorial, totalitarian system.
They offer their full collaboration to help prosecute the criminals in Cuba, as well as outside its borders, who retain power in the sister nation, Cuba.
Castro’s designation as a human rights violator is also a victory for Justice Cuba, which has asked for this measure as an essential one against the regime to indict it for its crimes against humanity.
Accordingly, the State Department report indicates that the United States strongly supports the rights of the Cuban and Venezuelan people. Further, it affirms its commitment to continue to seek all diplomatic and economic tools to help the Venezuelan people achieve the transition they deserve.
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