The United States on Friday included Cuba, Nicaragua and the Russian mercenary group Wagner on an international religious freedom blacklist, opening the way for possible sanctions.
These two Latin American countries and the Russian group, supposedly close to the Kremlin, States such as China, Saudi Arabia and Iran are added to this list“for having committed or tolerated especially serious violations of religious freedom,” Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in a statement.
Violations of religious freedom “sow division, undermine economic security, and threaten political stability and peace,” Blinken said. “The United States will not stand idly by in the face of these abuses.”
Cuba and Nicaragua were added to the list as “Countries of particular concern”, meaning both nations, already subject to US sanctions, could face additional measures.
500 Nicaraguan officials linked to the government of Daniel Ortega banned from the United States
Blinken blacklisted all countries of particular concern since 2021: China, Eritrea, Iran, Burma, North Korea, Pakistan, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Tajikistan and Turkmenistan.
Nicaraguan President Daniel Ortegahas clamped down on the Catholic Church since accusing it of supporting the 2018 protests against his government, which were harshly suppressed, leaving more than 300 dead and thousands exiled.
arrests and harassment
A bishop critical of the Ortega government, Rolando Álvarez, was placed under house arrest in August along with other priests and seminarians arrested on unspecified charges. After Pope Francis called for dialogue in September, Ortega called the Catholic Church a “dictatorship.”
The designation of Cuba is the latest pressure on the island’s government by the administration of President Joe Biden, which has largely avoided the policy of former Democratic President Barack Obama (2009-2017) of seeking a rapprochement with Havana. .
In its latest annual report on religious freedom, the State Department said there was increasing harassment of Christians in Cuba, pointing to violence and arrests of religious figures for alleged roles in unprecedented 2021 opposition demonstrations. Cuba is ruled by a single party regime, the communist, since the revolution led by Fidel Castro.
wagner group
According to the statement, the Wagner group was placed on the list for its involvement in abuses in the Central African Republic, where a bloody civil war for nearly a decade has pitted Christians and Muslims.
The United States is considering adding to its list of terrorist organizations the Wagner group, which has also been involved in Mali and has been accused of human rights violations in Libya, Syria and Ukraine. (YO)
Source: Eluniverso
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