Cuba's foreign minister on Friday dismissed new sanctions bu the United States as "irrelevant", saying the country did not have "legal, political or moral authority to be sanctioning people around the world." The administration of U.S. President Joe Biden announced on Thursday sanctions against an official and special brigade for what they deemed as human rights abuses against demonstrators earlier this month. ' The Treasury Department listed Alvaro Lopez Miera, a Cuban military and political leader, and the Brigada Especial Nacional del Ministerio del Interior, or Interior Ministry Special Brigade, as among those who will face the latest sanctions. But Cuban Foreign Minister Bruno Rodríguez dismissed the sanctions against Lopez Miera as "irrelevant," saying he lacks bank accounts in the U.S. or interest in visiting the country. Cuban-Americans have also announced a civilian flotilla will leave Florida Friday morning and come close to Cuban territorial waters in a display of support for anti-government protesters. Rodríguez said the U.S. should "act seriously in order to avoid incidents that are in nobody's interest." Treasury said in a statement that Lopez Miera “has played an integral role in the repression of ongoing protests in Cuba." Cuba’s Ministry of the Revolutionary Armed Forces, which is led to by Lopez Miera, and other Cuban government’s security services have attacked protesters and arrested or disappeared over 100 protesters in an attempt to suppress these protests, according to Treasury. Protests began Sunday 11 July when thousands of Cubans marched along the Malecon and elsewhere to protest food and medicine shortages, power outages and some even calling for political change. The government headed by President Miguel Díaz-Canel acted swiftly and violently, to quell the protests. Subscribe to our YouTube channel: https://bit.ly/2TwO8Gm Subscribe to our newest channel Quicktake Explained: https://bit.ly/3iERrup Bloomberg Quicktake brings you live global news and original shows spanning business, technology, politics and culture. Make sense of the stories changing your business and your world. To watch complete coverage on Bloomberg Quicktake 24/7, visit http://www.bloomberg.com/qt/live, or watch on Apple TV, Roku, Samsung Smart TV, Fire TV and Android TV on the Bloomberg app. Have a story to tell? Fill out this survey for a chance to have it featured on Bloomberg Quicktake: https://cor.us/surveys/27AF30 Connect with us on… YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/user/Bloomberg Breaking News on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/c/BloombergQuickTakeNews Twitter: https://twitter.com/quicktake Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/quicktake Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/quicktake