Torture in [Cuba] [other countries]Human Trafficking in [Cuba Street Children in [Cuba] [other countries]Child Prostitution in [Cuba] [other countries] |
Human Trafficking & Modern-day Slavery In the early years of the 21st Century gvnet.com/humantrafficking/Cuba.htm
Cuba is principally a source of women and
children trafficked within the country for the purpose of commercial sexual
exploitation. Some Cuban children are reportedly pushed into prostitution by
their families, exchanging sex for money, food, or gifts. Cuban nationals
voluntarily migrate illegally to the United States, and there have been
reports that some are subjected to forced labor or forced prostitution by
their smugglers. - U.S. State Dept
Trafficking in Persons Report, June, 2009 [full country report] |
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CAUTION: The following
links have been culled from the web to illuminate the situation in ***
FEATURED ARTICLE *** Book Review by Russell L. Blaylock, MD --
Source: NewsMax.com, Jan. 11, 2002 archive.newsmax.com/archives/articles/2002/1/11/142641.shtml [accessed 17 April 2012] The stories of
immense human courage, while bringing you to tears, also fills you with hope
for the world, knowing that there are still men left in the world of such a
caliber. Particularly touching was the story of the young Pedro Luis Boitel
thrown in a prison where he was starved, beaten daily and tortured beyond
human endurance for the crime of disagreeing with the supreme leader. During
imprisonment his legs became infected secondary to the torture wounds. At
that point he weighed a mere eighty pounds. He was denied medical attention
and eventually both of his legs had to be amputated. He still refused to
yield to his torturers. Not satisfied, Castro ordered him thrown in an even
worse dungeon where he soon died. This story was to be repeated thousands of
times. As proclaimed by
Hillary Clinton in her book, It Takes a
Village, Castro also boldly stated that the children belong to the State.
Forced labor and indoctrination disguised as education was enforced with a
gun. Children were forcibly taken away from their parents at a tender age and
made to do hard labor in the cane and tobacco fields. The American media saw
it as Cuban patriotism, as did the useful idiot American students who travel
to Cuba with the Venceremos Brigades. ***
ARCHIVES *** Human Rights
Reports » 2005 Country Reports on Human Rights Practices www.state.gov/g/drl/rls/hrrpt/2005/61723.htm [accessed 30 January 2011] TRAFFICKING IN PERSONS – Trafficking
victims came from all over the country, and most worked in the major cities
and tourist resort areas. Anecdotal information indicated that victims came
from poor families; in many cases, families encouraged victims to enter into
prostitution. There was no information
available regarding traffickers and their methods. Concluding Observations of the Committee on
the Rights of the Child (CRC) UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, 6
June 1997 www1.umn.edu/humanrts/crc/cuba1997.html [accessed 30 January 2011] [23] With regard to
the issues of drug abuse and trafficking, child labor, child prostitution and
suicide, the Committee takes note of the information provided by the State
party that cases involving children are few and isolated. Nonetheless, it
wishes to express its concern that, in light of the considerable social and
economic problems facing the country, insufficient efforts are being taken by
the State party to devise preventive strategies to ensure that such problems
do not become more prevalent, thereby endangering future generations of
children. Rights & Wrongs: Nigerian Justice,
Gender Violence, UAE and Juliette Terzieff, World Politics
Review, 03 Mar 2008 [partially accessed 30 January 2011 -
access restricted] Freedom House
Country Report - Political Rights: 7 Civil Liberties: 6 Status: Not Free 2009 Edition www.freedomhouse.org/report/freedom-world/2009/cuba [accessed 26 June 2012] Human Rights
Overview Human Rights Watch [accessed 30 January 2011] Refugee Admissions Program for Latin
America and the www.state.gov/g/prm/rls/117282.htm [accessed 30 January 2011] CUBAN PROGRAM - At present, the bulk of
Cubans outside Cuba may be considered for resettlement
if referred by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) or a
U.S. Embassy Human Rights www.hrw.org/reports/1999/cuba/Cuba996-02.htm [accessed 30 January 2011] ARBITRARY ARREST,
DETENTION, AND EXILE
- Trafficking in Persons Report 2003: Country
Narratives Office To Monitor And Combat Trafficking In
Persons, June 11, 2003 At one time this article had been archived
and may possibly still be accessible [here]
[accessed 4 September 2011] Letter about R. Perez [accessed 30 January 2011] The Cuban
government is one of the most represive regimes in modern history. You are
right that Cubans are very friendly and social people, but their spirit today
is not the same. One of Fidel's first tasks when he came to power was to
install block leaders whose task it was to spy on their fellow citizens and
report to the government. I remember a small Cuban boy who came to my house
after Mariel and we asked him about conditions on the Island. Crying he told
us that he could not say anything bad about the government because the
"walls had ears." Cubans on the island are afraid to tell you what
is truly going on. New threat of sanctions against Nancy San Martin, The www.cubanet.org/CNews/y03/sep03/12e6.htm [accessed 30 January 2011] A Bush
administration announcement that Cuba will face economic sanctions for
failing to curtail the sexual exploitation and forced labor of Cuban minors
will have little impact beyond public humiliation, several experts say. ''Leverage is minimal,'' said DamiᮠFernᮤez,
director of the Cuban Research Institute at Florida International University.
``This really is more symbolic than anything else.''. A Criticism of FIU’s "Humanities in Laida A. Carro, President of the Coalition
of Cuban-American Women, 2004 www.neoliberalismo.com/criticsims-fiu.htm [accessed 31 January 2011] As thousands of
Cuban artists have paid a very high personal and professional price for
choosing not to become instruments of an official "political
culture," other Cuban artists, used as spokesmen of the regime, create
their work in an atmosphere of double standard and self-censorship, given
that "privileges" such as publishing a book or traveling abroad are
granted only to those who obey and applaud "the Revolution." Will the course
discuss those artists subjected to forced labor for their
"anti-social" behavior at the infamous UMAP Cuban prison
camps? Will the FIU course mention the
book "Out of the Game" by the Cuban poet Heberto Padilla,
imprisoned and subjected to a "Stalinist" trial in 1970 for
questioning Cuban society through his verse?
Just last March and April, seventy-five peaceful Cuban citizens, among
them writers and poets, were arrested, tried summarily, and condemned to
prison sentences of up to 28 years. Will this FIU course mention two of these
poets, Raul Rivero and Manuel Vazquez Portal, serving prison sentences of
twenty and eighteen years, respectively, for publishing dissenting views of
the government? Book Review by Russell L. Blaylock, MD --
Source: NewsMax.com, Jan. 11, 2002 archive.newsmax.com/archives/articles/2002/1/11/142641.shtml [accessed 17 April 2012] The stories of
immense human courage, while bringing you to tears, also fills you with hope
for the world, knowing that there are still men left in the world of such a caliber.
Particularly touching was the story of the young Pedro Luis Boitel thrown in
a prison where he was starved, beaten daily and tortured beyond human
endurance for the crime of disagreeing with the supreme leader. During
imprisonment his legs became infected secondary to the torture wounds. At
that point he weighed a mere eighty pounds. He was denied medical attention
and eventually both of his legs had to be amputated. He still refused to
yield to his torturers. Not satisfied, Castro ordered him thrown in an even
worse dungeon where he soon died. This story was to be repeated thousands of
times. As proclaimed by
Hillary Clinton in her book, It Takes a
Village, Castro also boldly stated that the children belong to the State.
Forced labor and indoctrination disguised as education was enforced with a
gun. Children were forcibly taken away from their parents at a tender age and
made to do hard labor in the cane and tobacco fields. The American media saw
it as Cuban patriotism, as did the useful idiot American students who travel
to Cuba with the Venceremos Brigades. Fidel’s The One Who Owes Reparations Jamie Glazov - FrontPageMagazine.com -
September 6, 2001 www.davidstuff.com/political/reparationsfidel.htm [accessed 31 January 2011] Ever since Castro
came to power in 1959, Cubans have been denied the right to travel freely in
and out of their country. They have not had the right of free association,
nor of forming political parties, independent unions, or any religious and
cultural organizations. Freedom of expression has been
non-existent, and the regime has consistently controlled and censored the
means of publications, radio, television, and film. Since 1959, more
than 100,000 Cubans have experienced life in Cuba’s prisons or forced labor
camps for their political beliefs. More than 15,000 have been executed for
the same reason. Torture has been institutionalized. This reality is best
epitomized by the Camilo-Cienfuegos plan, a forced labor camp program that
was founded in 1964 on the Isle of Pines. Working conditions there were
barbaric. Prisoners had to work almost naked. They were forced to cut grass
with their teeth or to sit in latrine trenches for long periods of time. Torture
was routine. Forced Labor Continues To Make History With
Cuban Tobacco Orestes Martín Pérez, www.cubafreepress.org/art2/cubap000317g.html [accessed 31 January 2011] So that the
injustice is made feasible, a legal mechanism exists that can be deemed
diabolical. There is only one buyer inside Cuba: the government, with the
prerogative, moreover, of establishing an absolute price for the farmers. Other regulations
exist which place today's harvesters in a condition not far removed from that
of forced-labor slaves. One example is the fines that can be levied if the
planting schemes imposed by the government are not fulfilled. Another is that
if a farmer does not fulfill his duties as prescribed by government, it will
take back land that had been "loaned" for his use. Sending Boy Back To John C. Eastman, Center for Constitutional
Jurisprudence, The Claremont Institute, May 1, 2000 www.claremont.org/projects/pageID.1806/default.asp [accessed 31 January 2011] The argument for
not returning Elian to Political Prisoners' Forced Labor Seven
Days a Week Héctor Trujillo Pis, www.cubafreepress.org/art/cubap981109f.html [accessed 31 January 2011] The forced labor
plantation managed by the Ministry of the Interior (MININT) along the highway
to Maleza is obliging the political prisoners to work without hourly limits
seven days a week, according to Danilo Santos Méndez, member of the Pro Human
Rights Party of Cuba. This group is affiliated with the Andrei Sakharov
Foundation. Legal Changes in the Area of Labor
Relations Efrén Córdova, Florida International
University, Miami, Florida -- "Legal Changes in the Area of Labor
Relations", CUBA IN TRANSITION: Volume 3 - Proceedings of the Third
Annual Meeting of the Association for the Study of the Cuban Economy (ASCE),
held at Florida International University Miami, FL. on August 12-14, 1993 www.ascecuba.org/publications/proceedings/volume3/cordova.asp [accessed 20 April 2012] I. THE PRESENT
SYSTEM
- Any discussions of the labor law and labor relations problems that may
arise in Castro's According to the
Stalinist model, the actors of industrial relations, i.e. the employers and
the workers organizations, lose their autonomy and become entirely
subordinated to the State and the communist party. Employers are nothing more
than subservient bureaucrats who adhere to government policies and follow the
instructions of the planning agency. Labor unions are deprived of the right
to draw up their by laws and programs of action and become organs of the
state and transmission belts of the communist party. All
material used herein reproduced under the fair use exception of 17 USC § 107
for noncommercial, nonprofit, and educational use. PLEASE RESPECT COPYRIGHTS OF COMPONENT
ARTICLES. Cite this webpage as: Patt,
Prof. Martin, "Human Trafficking & Modern-day Slavery - |
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Torture in [Cuba] [other countries]Human Trafficking in [Cuba Street Children in [Cuba] [other countries]Child Prostitution in [Cuba] [other countries]