The United States government announced Friday it was sanctioning Cuban President Miguel Diaz-Canel and other top officials for human rights violations and restricting access to visas on the anniversary of the biggest protests on the island in recent decades.

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said on social media platform X that the State Department also would impose visa restrictions on Cuban judicial and prison officials "responsible for, or complicit in, the unjust detention and torture of the July 2021 protesters."

The protests, which were not led by an opposition group, developed July 11 and 12, 2021, drawing attention to the depths of Cuba`s economic crisis.