U.S. Department of State (Minrex) Deputy Director General Johana Tablada said in a Facebook post: “Cuba has a zero-tolerance policy toward any form of human trafficking.” The official’s release was in response to the U.S.’s statement in June State Department report on human trafficking warned that the Cuban government “does not fully comply with minimum standards for the elimination of human trafficking.”
The officer’s statement is misleading. Although the Cuban authorities strictly prosecute the cases they treat as human trafficking, deficiencies remain, such as the lack of protocols for counseling victims residing in other countries. Likewise, the government does not recognize internal causes, particularly the insecurity of life in Cuba, that can influence the spread of this type of crime.
The lawyer Eloy Viera, coordinator of elTOQUE Jurídico, specifies that “these protocols, if they exist, are not public” and adds that “the fact that they are not public prevents the victims from having any reference to them “Where to go.” In other words, people affected by this crime often do not know whether they can seek help or advice from Cuban consular offices abroad.
The recent case of the recruitment of Cubans Andorf Velázquez García and Alex Vegas Díaz – who denounced that they were deceived and sent to Russia to take part in the invasion of Ukraine – reveals the cracks in the Cuban report published on August 15, 2023 Prevention and combating of human trafficking. The document highlights “the absence of organized criminal networks based in the country.”
However, twenty days later, the State Department issued a statement in which the island’s authorities acknowledged that “Cuba is facing human trafficking operations for military recruitment” after the two young men were detained in Russia. When asked if they had contacted the Cuban embassy in that country, both said they did not know how to do so.
Another reality that raises doubts about Cuba’s “zero tolerance” is the frequent international complaints from human rights organizations about violations in the export of medical personnel. The United States report, with data from 2021, said that in Cuba there is “a government policy or pattern of exploiting professional services export programs, with strong evidence of forced labor, particularly in its overseas medical mission program.”
According to the United Nations (UN), human trafficking is “the process by which a person is subjected to and maintained in a situation of exploitation for the purpose of deriving economic benefit.”
Restrictions and Abuses: Complaints by Cuban Internationalists
Among the aspects mentioned in the US report is the use of “deceptive and coercive tactics” and “labor rights violations” against Cuban health workers abroad. In this sense, more than a thousand former employees of the “medical mission” will be supported by the international NGO in 2021 Prisoner Defender (PD) filed a complaint against the island’s government with the International Criminal Court and the United Nations.
The organization revealed that “75% of whistleblowers did not volunteer for the program and 33% never signed a contract.” Additionally, 69% did not know their final destination and 38% had their passports confiscated by Cuban officials.” , says the collected witness statements. It also concluded that “76% of victims were assigned “caregivers.” [agentes gubernamentales] and that they could not interact freely with the local population. Likewise, 79% experienced restricted movement.”
In May 2022, other NGOs such as Outreach Aid to the Americas and the International Foundation for Freedom, along with Prisoners Defenders in Mexico City, denounced Cuban doctors working in state missions abroad in conditions of “modern slavery.” To prove this, they collected dozens of statements from experts on the island.
The report released by the US State Department in 2022 also indicates that the Cuban government “did not inform participants of the terms of their contracts, which vary from country to country; their passports, professional certificates and salaries were confiscated; and threatened medical professionals and their families if the doctors left the program.
However, the complaints from professionals in the sector carrying out internationalist missions began several years ago. For example, in June 2021, the European Parliament adopted a resolution drawing attention to the conditions faced by Cubans sent on medical missions abroad.
In 2020, the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) also noted in its annual report the concerns of UN mechanisms regarding the exploitation of Cuban medical personnel abroad. The IACHR referred to a report submitted in November 2019 by María Grazia Giammarinaro, Special Rapporteur on Trafficking in Persons, Especially Women and Children, and Urmila Bhoola, Special Rapporteur on Contemporary Forms of Slavery, which found “alleged human rights violations by Cuban doctors.” take part in “internationalization missions”.
The rapporteurs’ analysis pointed out that “the reported working conditions could lead to forced labor according to the indicators set by the International Labor Organization (ILO)”.
The definition of forced labor consists of two basic elements. On the one hand, it is a type of work or service that is demanded under threat of punishment; on the other hand, it is emphasized that this happens involuntarily. “The punishment does not necessarily have to be a criminal sanction, but can also consist of a loss of rights and privileges,” emphasizes the ILO.
In this sense, Resolution 368/2020 of the Ministry of Foreign Trade and Foreign Investment (Mincex) establishes a “disciplinary regime for Cuban civilian workers who provide services abroad as employees”. The bans that may be sanctioned include participation in public events of a social nature without appropriate authorization; submit criteria or ratings on social networks without prior instructions; maintain friendly relations or bonds with people who are against the government. It also restricts the ability to drive transport without permission from the Cuban authorities.
On the other hand, according to the migration law, health workers who are considered “deserters and undesirables” are not allowed to return to Cuba for eight years (…) and the government classifies them as emigrants, without allowing them to visit their parents, children or relatives in Cuba”, as condemned by the European Parliament in the resolution of July 12, 2023 on the status of the EU-Cuba Political Dialogue and Cooperation Agreement.
Researcher Maria C. Werlau, director of Archivo Cuba, warns that “there are several relevant international agreements that confirm the illegality of the health services export programs currently implemented by the Cuban state.” In his research, Werlau points to rights-violating elements such as the confiscation of salaries.
“Almost always, the Cuban state receives the hard currency payment from the state party or from the international organization that subsidizes the health services, and in turn pays the workers a fraction of that income, ranging from 5% to 25%. % (. ..), so that the Cuban state typically receives between 75 and 95% of the payments into its treasury,” says Werlau.
This reality contrasts with the fact that Cuba has adopted various International Labor Organization conventions related to labor rights, such as Convention 29 on Forced or Compulsory Labor (1930) and Convention 95 on Wage Protection (1949); prohibit forced labor and guarantee that employees can freely dispose of their salary.
The truth is that several national regulations, such as Resolution 168/2010, violate the rights of workers in this sector. Regarding the restriction of movement, Legislative Decree 302 of 2012 regulates the entry and exit of Cuban professionals in vital activities for the country’s economic, social and scientific development, strategic programs, research projects and health services.
In May 2022, the Free Cuban Medical Guild announced that 17 Cuban doctors were arrested in Venezuela after being intercepted attempting to travel to Colombia. The complaint was filed by Cuban doctor Miguel Ángel Ruano, who posted on his social networks screenshots of the messages he exchanged with some of them.
After that, the heads of the Cuban medical mission in Venezuela collected the passports of more than 20,000 health workers who were in that country. The measure was taken due to the arrest of the escaping professionals, “who were transferred to the island as prisoners and faced a prison sentence of up to eight years for abandonment of their duties, in accordance with Article 176.1 of the new Penal Code ».
The article states: “Any official entrusted with the performance of a mission in another country, who abandons or fulfills the mission, or who is asked to return at any time and expressly or tacitly refuses to do so, shall be punished with imprisonment from three to punished for eight years.” .” ».
According to Yamila de Armas Águila, President of the Cuban Medical Services Marketer, exports of healthcare services accounted for 50% of services exports in 2020; These, in turn, accounted for 80% of the country’s total exports. In December 2022, Health Minister José Ángel Portal stated that so far 23,792 professionals in the sector are working in 56 countries.
Clarifying human trafficking from a gender perspective
Research published by Sexología y Sociedad magazine shows that between 2010 and 2017, 71 people of Cuban nationality were identified as victims of human trafficking, based on a survey of 25 Cuban consular agents working in 28 countries. Cases were detected in Argentina, France, Ecuador, Belgium, China, Holland, UK, Spain, Turkey, Italy and Haiti. The highest numbers were found in Spain (30) and Turkey (20).
The increase in this scourge appears to be linked to increasing Cuban migration and low risk perception. The study states that the victims were women between the ages of 18 and 35 of mestizo or white descent, with medium and low levels of education, mainly from the eastern provinces and Havana.
Sexual exploitation (48%), forced labor (36%) and slavery (8%) were identified as forms of human trafficking. No cases of organ removal were identified among the Cuban victims. According to the study published in 2018, women also faced situations of isolation, poor nutrition and violations of universal rights.
32% of respondents stated that organized crime groups and small networks of Cubans were identified in these cases, who, together with citizens of other countries, coordinate the transfer of women abroad for exploitation.
The investigation clarifies that “the actions carried out by the consulates are of a general nature”. That is, there is no specific protocol with a gender focus for these cases. The research concludes that “the lack of gender awareness among most of the professionals consulted and (…) the lack of training in some sectors with a societal responsibility to prevent and address the problem of trafficking in human beings” could also be demonstrated.
Cuba: a vague policy against human trafficking
Cuba is a party to the Palermo Convention against Transnational Organized Crime and its Protocol on Trafficking in Persons. Actions taken to prevent and combat these crimes include sharing information with the International Criminal Police Organization (Interpol) and similar organizations. The country also has a National Action Plan to prevent and combat human trafficking and protect victims.
As foreseen in Cuba’s 2022 National Trafficking Report – the most recent one published – the government must pay particular attention to victims and groups in a particularly vulnerable situation: boys, girls, youth, older adults and people with disabilities.
The data show that “During the said period, six cases of crimes typical of human trafficking were tried (…), eight extraordinary events were reported during the year.” Two cases of lascivious abuse, one case of sexual harassment, three cases of abuse and two cases of rape were found.
In summary, six victims of human trafficking were identified, five underage girls and one woman. According to the document, criminal penalties for the perpetrators ranged from five to fifteen years in prison. We must also highlight that the annual report presented by the Cuban government suppresses independent national sources, making it difficult to verify the information.
Attorney Eloy Viera reiterates that “zero tolerance is based not only on legalization (…) but also on effective preventive mechanisms that prevent the proliferation of networks that can facilitate human trafficking.” In this sense, the importance of the institution of victim counseling mechanisms in Cuban offices abroad.
Likewise, he denounces the state’s failure to recognize the insecurity of Cuban life, a reality that makes some think about the possibility of leaving the country, even through a network of this type. “As long as the causes that generate this precariousness and “If the phenomenon promotes reproduction, is not attacked or at least not recognized, there is a problem,” warns the lawyer.