Former President of Cuba Raul Castro

By Gary Raynaldo   /  DIPLOMATIC TIMES

The United States Thursday slapped sanctions on Cuba’s Raul Castro and his children as it seeks to sever all lifelines helping Venezuela’s Nicholas Maduro remain in power.  

“The Department is publicly designating Raul Modesto Castro Ruz, the First Secretary of the Central Committee of the Cuban Communist Party and First Secretary of the Cuban Revolutionary Armed Forces, under Section 7031(c) of the FY 2019 Department of State, Foreign Operations, and Related Programs Appropriations Act, due to his involvement in gross violations of human rights.  Section 7031(c) provides that, in cases where the Secretary of State has credible information that foreign government officials have been involved in significant corruption or a gross violation of human rights, those individuals and their immediate family members are ineligible for entry into the United States.”

U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said in a statement.

The law also requires the Secretary of State to publicly or privately designate such officials and their immediate family members, according to the State Department.  In addition to the public designation of Raul Castro, the State Department is also publicly designating his children, Alejandro Castro Espin, Deborah Castro Espin, Mariela Castro Espin, and Nilsa Castro Espin.

“As First Secretary of the Cuban Communist Party, Raul Castro oversees a system that arbitrarily detains thousands of Cubans and currently holds more than 100 political prisoners.  As First Secretary of Cuba’s Armed Forces, Castro is responsible for Cuba’s actions to prop up the former Maduro regime in Venezuela through violence, intimidation, and repression.  In concert with Maduro’s military and intelligence officers, members of the Cuban security forces have been involved in gross human rights violations and abuses in Venezuela, including torture,” Secretary of State Pompeo said in a statement.

U.S. Expels Cuban Diplomats From UN Mission For “Inappropriate Behavior”

Photo: Gary Raynaldo  / Plaque outside the Permanent Residence of Cuba to the United Nations in New York City at 315 Lexington Ave.

Last week, the Trump administration on announced the expulsion of two diplomats from Cuba’s U.N. mission in New York  for allegedly trying to conduct “influence operations” in the United States.  However, the US Department of State has not disclosed specifically what the influence operations consist of,  who they were aimed at, or the identity of the two Cuban diplomats. In addition to the required departures, travel within the United States by all members of Cuba’s Permanent Mission to the United Nations will now  be restricted to the island of Manhattan, the State Department said.

Venezuela has been embroiled in political crisis since opposition leader Juan Guaidó proclaimed he is the legitimate president of the country in January 2019 in a bid to oust President Maduro.  The US immediately throw its full support behind Guaidó who called for Maduro to cede power. Many Maduro supporters characterized Guaidó’s action as a coup d’etat backed by the US.  A political stalemate between pro-Maduro and pro-Guaido supports developed after Guaido’s failed coup in May.