Cuba accused of signal jamming to suppress protests amid new U.S. sanctions

The Cuban government is reportedly using signal jamming tactics to suppress domestic protests. According to attorney Alain Espinosa of the human rights organization Cubalex, the regime has deployed ETECSA personnel and vehicles to protest sites to disrupt mobile and internet signals. This strategy aims to prevent demonstrators from recording or broadcasting live footage of state repression, a tactic designed to prevent the “contagion effect” seen during the July 11, 2021, protests.

Cubalex reported 215 instances of militarization between February and July 2026 to the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights, noting a significant increase in such activity during the late spring and summer months.

In a separate development, U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced new sanctions against the Cuban regime. Following an executive order, the U.S. has designated three leaders of the Cuban Institute of Friendship with the Peoples (ICAP), including President Fernando González Llort, and nine entities, such as the Ministry of Construction. The U.S. administration stated these measures target the regime’s repressive apparatus and its efforts to conduct subversive activities against the United States.