U.S. ranks Cuba among countries doing little to fight human trafficking

MIAMI — Cuba
was included among the 13 countries that received the lowest ranking in
the annual Trafficking in Persons Report issued Monday by the State Department
on the grounds its government is doing little to enact laws against
human traffickers or protect children from predator foreign sex
tourists.

The ranking is similar to what Cuba has received in previous years.

Ambassador Luis CdeBaca, of the State Department office that monitors and combats human trafficking, said Cuba has no specific anti-trafficking law on its books.

“One of the concerns we continue to have is … that prostitution continues to be legal for children ages 16 and 17 in Cuba, and that’s certainly a problem,” he said in a telephone interview.

While Cuba prohibits prostitution, it often doesn’t enforce the law.

The Cuban government had no immediate comment, either in Havana or at its Interests Section in Washington.

Cuba was one of
two Latin American countries ranked as Tier 3 because their governments
“do not fully comply with the minimum standards” to combat trafficking
“and are not making significant efforts to do so.”

The other was the Dominican Republic, where trafficking of children has long been suspected. “The Dominican Republic is a country that actually has a law, but it is a law that has gone unused,” said CdeBaca.

The only Spanish-speaking country listed as Tier 1 was Spain. Argentina was ranked as Tier 2.

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