By Roberto Morejón
As part of its control over any contingency that threatens the integrity of individuals, Cuba recently released the National Report on Preventing and Confronting Trafficking in Persons and Protecting Victims for the year 2022.
The authorities referred to the implementation of an action plan until 2024 to coordinate tasks and initiatives, as part of a national policy of zero tolerance to any manifestation of human trafficking.
Judging by the report, the various governmental entities related to the imperative of avoiding contingencies of this kind and increasing the perception of risk in society, continue their activities.
The largest Antillean island also maintains close relations with entities such as the United Nations system and the International Criminal Police Organization.
According to what is officially known, in the previous year, six cases were tried in the Caribbean nation for crimes with characteristics of human trafficking, which reflects the low incidence at the national level.
During 2022, more than 7,000 actions were also carried out to protect minors in order to prevent situations prone to sexual abuse.
However, training and alerts continue in civil society to work on the prevention of such acts, although if they occur, the legal instruments are ready.
Cuban authorities understand that human trafficking is an international problem and the Caribbean archipelago must be alert to any attempt from abroad to involve nationals.
In this Caribbean country it is taken into account that trafficking in persons, especially women and children, constitutes an attack against the dignity of the individual and a violation of human rights.
In this context, the attempts of the U.S. administrations to present Cuban medical collaboration with foreign countries as an expression of human trafficking are offensive.
The professionals go voluntarily to fulfill contracts, signed by Cuba and the respective governments, in compliance with missions that represent the embodiment of a cardinal concept: to assist those in need of health care, even the most vulnerable.
As a State Party to the Palermo Convention on Organized Transnational Crime and its Protocol on Trafficking in Persons, Cuba does not lower its guard in the fight against these abuses.
