US planning sanctions on Cuba

The US is planning to impose sanctions on Cuba to punish Fidel Castro for his recent crackdown on dissidents, officials said today.

Washington is considering halting direct flights to the island and banning Cuban exiles in America from sending money back to relatives, which is worth millions of pounds to the local economy.

President George Bush is expected to announce the sanctions in the next few weeks as a response to the renewed repression of critics of Castro’s government, US officials told the New York Times.

Since the outbreak of war in Iraq, Havana has jailed nearly 100 independent journalists, opposition party leaders, human rights advocates and pro-democracy activists.

They all deny accusations of working with US diplomats to harm Cuba’s economic and political systems.

Last week, a Cuban firing squad executed three men who attempted to hijack a passenger ferry to take them to the US just days after they were arrested.

Wayne Smith, who was the top American diplomat in Havana under President Jimmy Carter, believes Castro is alarmed by the US government’s attack on Saddam Hussein’s regime and worries he could be next.

He said: “The Cubans have looked at what is happening in Iraq and have concluded that the US will not be restrained by international law and international institutions.”

Castro is also thought to be worried by recent advances by opposition groups at home, including the collection of more than 11,000 signatures on a petition to introduce democratic reforms.

He defended the crackdown in a speech broadcast on Cuban state television last week in which he claimed to be defending the country against destabilising moves by America.

“We are now immersed in a battle against provocations that are trying to move us toward conflict and military aggression by the United States,” he said.

The repression has undermined recent attempts by US Congress to increase US-Cuban contacts through trade and travel to the island.

Secretary of State Colin Powell said this week that Castro’s crackdown was an “outrage“.

US officials said no sanctions had been decided on yet, but they could include outlawing the transfer of cash payments to people on the island.