By Jasper Ward
WASHINGTON, June 4 (Reuters) - The U.S. on Thursday imposed sanctions on Cuban President Miguel Diaz-Canel and some affiliated people and entities, the U.S. Treasury Department’s website showed.
The sanctions also targeted four other people and five entities, including Diaz-Canel’s wife, Lis Cuesta Peraza, two members of the Castro family, and the Ministry of the Revolutionary Armed Forces.
The Cuban government did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the sanctions.
Diaz-Canel, 66, has served as president of the Caribbean country since taking over from Raul Castro, the brother of Cuba’s former leader Fidel Castro, in 2018.
Thursday’s action against Diaz-Canel is the latest by Washington to intensify pressure on the island’s communist leaders.
The sanctions were announced as President Donald Trump told reporters that the U.S. wanted Cuba “to be a nicely run country.”
Cuban Foreign Minister Bruno Rodriguez called the sanctions “despicable” in a post on social media, describing them as the latest example of U.S. interventionism.
“Every U.S. action aimed at creating a scenario of conflict between the two countries is doomed to failure,” Rodriguez said.
Last month, the U.S. government imposed sanctions on 11 Cuban officials, including the country’s communications minister, several military leaders and its main intelligence agency.
The U.S. also charged Raul Castro with murder for his alleged involvement in a 1996 incident in which Cuban jets shot down planes operated by a group of Cuban exiles.
(Reporting by Jasper Ward in Washington, Dave Sherwood and Ayose Naranjo in Havana; Editing by Scott Malone and Stephen Coates)
