WASHINGTON — The Trump administration on Saturday imposed U.S. travel sanctions on a second high-level Cuban official as it increased pressure on its old Cold War foe and Havana's ongoing support of Venezuela's socialist president, Nicolas Maduro. U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said the United States would bar entry for Cuban Interior Minister Julio Cesar Gandarilla Bermejo, citing what he called the minister's involvement "gross violations of human rights in Venezuela." He called for other countries to join the United States in holding Havana to account. In announcing the largely symbolic move, Pompeo said Gandarilla Bermejo was also responsible for "arbitrarily arresting and detaining thousands of Cuban citizens and unlawfully incarcerating more than 100 political prisoners in Cuba". His ministry had overseen the torture of political dissidents, detainees and prisoners, as well as the murder of some of these individuals by police and security forces, Pompeo said in a statement on Saturday.

Source: International New York Times November 17, 2019 00:07 UTC