“I unequivocally condemn the mass detentions and sham trials,” Biden said in a statement.
President Joe Biden on Thursday sanctioned a Cuban official and a military special forces unit in response to the regime’s crackdown on protesters who led mass demonstrations against the government over chronic medicine and food shortages earlier this month. “I unequivocally condemn the mass detentions and sham trials that are unjustly sentencing to prison those who dared to speak out in an effort to intimidate and threaten the Cuban people into silence,” Biden said. Demonstrators poured into the streets in more than 40 cities across the country on July 11 and 12 to protest the nation’s deteriorating living conditions. Cubans have faced intermittent power outages, and a scarcity of basic goods. Hundreds of demonstrators have been arrested, and the Cuban government has promised to levy disorder and disobedience charges against those who engaged in violence or vandalism. Biden faced pressure from Democrats and Republicans in Florida to retaliate against the Cuban regime following the crackdown on protesters.
