US imposes visa restrictions on 9 Cuban government officials

WASHINGTON

The US imposed visa restrictions on nine Cuban officials, Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Tuesday.

The officials are sanctioned for undermining "the Cuban people's ability to improve their political, economic, and security conditions," Blinken wrote on Twitter.

"We stand with the Cuban people in their fight for fundamental freedoms," he wrote.

Blinken said the restrictions follow Cuba's actions targeting peaceful demonstrators in a Nov. 15 march, and added officials were "implicated in attempts to silence the voices of the Cuban people through repression and unjust detentions."

"The designated individuals today took action to deny Cubans their rights to free expression and peaceful assembly. The rights to freedom of expression and peaceful assembly are universal," added Blinken.

These nine individuals include high-ranking members from the Interior and the Revolutionary Armed Forces ministries.

Thousands of protesters across the world staged demonstrations against the Cuban government on Nov. 15, with more rallies outside Cuba than on the island.

Demonstrators in the US, Spain, Argentina, the Dominican Republic and other countries took to the streets with signs demanding freedom and democracy and the release of hundreds of people who were jailed in July when the island was hit with widespread anti-government protests.