The United States keeps Cuba, Venezuela and Nicaragua on its annual blacklist of countries that aren’t doing enough to stop human trafficking. Also on that list are Russia, China, Iran and North Korea, the State Department announced Thursday.
This year Washington put Algeria, Chad, Djibouti, Equatorial Guinea and Papua New Guinea on the list, and withdrew Brunei, Malaysia and Vietnam.
“The United States is committed to fighting human trafficking because it represents an attack on human rights and freedoms,” said Secretary of State Antony Blinken, presenting the 2023 Trafficking in Persons Report.
Cuba, Venezuela and Nicaragua are the three Latin American countries that the United States points out again in its report for the allegation of not meeting “minimum standards” in the fight against trafficking.
The report says the Government of Havana “took some steps to address trafficking,” such as reforming the Penal Code, but classifies the missions of Cuban doctors abroad as a case of forced labor.
The government of Nicolás Maduro affirms that “it is not making any effort” against trafficking and accuses it of supporting armed groups that recruit children for forced labor and sex trafficking.
The text alleges that Moscow has trafficked Ukrainian citizens and forced its citizens to fight in the war launched against Ukraine.
According to the United States, some 27 million people in the world are victims of trafficking and forced labor, a phenomenon that especially impacts women, people from the LGBT community, and ethnic and religious minorities.
The leader of US diplomacy highlighted positive cases such as the opening of a hotline in Hong Kong to help victims or an increase in the Danish budget to combat trafficking.
Efe/OnCuba.
