US sanctions Cuba's interior minister for rights abuses: Treasury

US Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin

US Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin gives a statement following his meeting meeting with the Israeli prime minister in Jerusalem, on January 7, 2021. 

Photo credit: Emil Salman | Pool | AFP

Washington,

US President Donald Trump's administration sanctioned Cuban Interior Minister Lazaro Alberto Alvarez Casas on Friday for serious "human rights abuse," five days before the inauguration of President-elect Joe Biden, who may seek better relations with the country.

"The Cuban regime has a long history of human rights abuse," said Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin in a statement. "The United States will continue to use all the tools at its disposal to address the dire human rights situation in Cuba and elsewhere around the world."

The Cuban Interior Ministry, also targeted by the sanctions, has specialized units "responsible for monitoring political activity, and Cuba's police support these security units by arresting persons of interest," the Treasury statement said.

It pointed to the arrest in 2019 of Cuban dissident Jose Daniel Ferrer, who was held in a prison run by the interior ministry, "where he reported being beaten, tortured, and held in isolation."

The minister and his department will no longer have access to the US financial system and any assets they may have in the United States will be frozen.

The Trump administration, which has been working for four years to reverse the historic rapprochement between the United States and the communist island initiated by former US president Barack Obama, on Monday returned Cuba to the blacklist of state sponsors of terrorism.

The measures may complicate Biden's expected efforts to ease tensions with Havana.