US PRESIDENT Joe Biden described a new raft of sanctions on Cuba as “just the beginning” on Thursday as Washington tightened the screws on the socialist island.

“This is just the beginning,” Mr Biden said in a statement. “The United States will continue to sanction individuals responsible for oppression of the Cuban people.

“I unequivocally condemn the mass detentions and sham trials that are unjustly sentencing to prison those who dared to speak out in an effort to intimidate and threaten the Cuban people into silence,” said Mr Biden.